As I mentioned in my Review of Baby Bandito, “the biggest heist of the century,” a claim made by the Netflix show from Chile, is contentious.
It was previously trademarked by Everybody Loves Diamond, an Amazon show.
Therefore, I naturally felt doing a bit of research and coming up with a definitive answer. That and the true story behind Baby Bandito are going to be the constituents of this blog.
Is Baby Bandito Based on a True Story?
Instead of using the word ‘based,’ I would say, Baby Bandito is ‘inspired’ by a true story.
The makers have made several changes (a whole lot of them) to what was back then called by many the biggest heist of the century.
The real incident happened at the Santiago International Airport (aka Arturo Merino Benítez Airport).
Around 10 people entered the airport in an armored vehicle to commit the robbery.
The money was stolen from a van that belonged to Brink’s, a US security firm.
It was supposed to be delivered for mining and banking operations in Copiago.
The thieves disguised themselves as workers, hiding their faces using masks. Interestingly, the gang only took two minutes to complete the heist.
This became evident from the security footage, which showed them leaving the premises of the airport two minutes after their entry.
They didn’t fire any shots despite carrying weapons. It made the investigators doubt the involvement of airport officials later on.
Though robbers had come in one van, they left the place in two of them, in opposite directions.
This was done to scatter the flow of cops. As shown in Baby Bandito, the thieves actually laid nails on the road to hinder the movement of police cars.
Have There Been Other Such Robberies in Chile?
Interestingly, Chilean airports have often been witnesses to such heists. In 2006, robbers stole $1.6 million from a Brink’s delivery van at the same airport terminal.
Moreover, in 2020, a robbery amounting to $15 million was successfully executed at the Santiago airport.
In 2023, another heist was attempted at the same place. However, the bid was foiled by the security personnel this time around.
The amount was said to be the highest to date, $33 million. Two people died in the gunfire, including a security officer and a robber.
Was Kevin Tapia the Mastermind of the Heist?
In reality, there was no Kevin Tapia. The actual name of the character was Kevin Olguin Sepulveda.
Though he was a part of the gang, he didn’t lead the operation as shown in the series. The man who overlooked the robbery was Alexis Niñoles Rivas.
Kevin’s role in the heist was, according to news reports, to break the gates of the airport’s exit so that the gang could escape.
What Happened to Alexis Niñoles Rivas?
Being the administrator of the heist, Alexis was the first person to receive a punishment. He was sentenced to over 11 years in jail.
Along with him, four other members of the gang received sentences in the same hearing namely, Cristian Ninoles (7+ years), Francisco Morales (8+ years), Mario Vasquez (8 years), and Roque Quintanilla (5+ years).
The only guy to escape punishment was Fabian Olguin, the brother of Kevin. His involvement in the crime could not be established during the trial.
What happened to Kevin Olguin Sepulveda?
The money that he got from the robbery made Kevin’s young blood go crazy.
He left Chile with his girlfriend and started living a lavish life in Europe and the Caribbeans like any youngster would imagine.
The Chilean police had no clue about his whereabouts. However, they had issued an Interpol lookout circular for his name.
This might surprise you but Kevin Olguin Sepulveda was arrested during a routine identity check in Barcelona.
Since there was an Interpol notice, the cops quickly identified him and he was deported to Chile.
As I said previously, Olguin was not the main culprit of the robbery.
This and the fact that he was young, around 21 years old, a Chilean court convicted him for four years.
After he spent some time behind bars, he was freed on the condition that he would report to the police every week.
However, the young lad stopped presenting himself at the station within months and left his place of residence.
Following this, Kevin fully joined the circle of organized crime and was recaptured by cops some years later.
His present whereabouts are not known given his criminal antecedents, of course.
He might be serving prison right now or maybe enjoying a party in a pub. Maybe, he is dead. Who knows?
Now, the question is, if Kevin was not the mastermind of the heist, why did Netflix come up with a show based on him instead of the actual leader?
In my opinion, every story needs a hook. Baby Bandito’s hook was Kevin Olguin’s young age and the naivety with which he lived after the heist.
Any professional thief would carefully plan his every move, but Kevin instead went to another country and soaked himself in luxury.
It is his foolish endeavors that made him earn the tag of ‘Baby Bandito’ in real life.
So, there was an opportunity to show an unconventional lawbreaker, who was young and too careless to even care for his own safety.
Who Was Panda in Real Life?
Again, there was no Panda, unlike what is shown in Baby Bandito. In fact, almost 90% of the series is fictionalized.
Panda’s character is probably inspired by Kevin’s brother, Fabian Olguin. Like Panda, he also didn’t get convicted for the robbery. Later, he joined the organized crime racket and left his brother’s side.
Moreover, the entire plotline of “The Butchers” is fictional. There is no public record of any such gang working under the guise of a meat trading company operating back then.
Which is the Biggest Heist of the Century: Baby Bandito or Everybody Loves Diamonds?
Well, the question is tough. However, if we simply look at facts, we might come to an acceptable conclusion.
Diamonds worth over 100 million dollars were stolen during the heist at Antwerp’s diamond district.
On the other hand, the 2014 Chilean airport heist amounted to approximately $10 million.
Clearly, Antwerp’s diamond heist was much bigger in both scale and money.
However, one point in the Chilean airport robbery’s favor is that it was fully in cash while the Antwerp robbery was in diamonds.
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