Four armed men wearing masks yesterday morning broke and entered the Fogarty's branch store in New Amsterdam and stole an iron safe with an undisclosed amount of local and foreign currency.

The manager was unavailable to speak with Stabroek News but according to police sources, the four men held up two unarmed security guards at around 2 am yesterday morning, broke into the building through a back door and escaped with the safe. The guards were treated at the New Amsterdam hospital for minor injuries and were sent home. According to one guard, the men approached the two-flat building from the rear, held him up at gunpoint and asked how many other guards were on duty. After disclosing that there was another guard in front of the building, the men proceeded to the front. The man said they held up his colleague, tied them both up and forced them to lie on the ground at the back of the store. The owner lives in the upper flat of the building, which is flanked by the Penguin International Hotel to the left and the Bank of Nova Scotia to the right. The store is approximately 200 metres from the Central Police Station in New Amsterdam.

The guard recalled that three of the bandits began using saws and crowbars to force their way into the building through the back door while the other stood guard over them with a gun. The still terrified East Bank Berbice man said he and his colleague were beaten about their heads and bodies by the bandits with their weapons while they threatened to kill them if they attempted to raise an alarm. The bandits were armed with hand and machine guns and appeared to be highly trained. According to the guard, the bandits were on the premises for about two hours and escaped in the direction of the nearby New Amsterdam Municipal market. Stabroek News was informed that the men might have escaped by boat along the Berbice River. This newspaper has also been reliably informed that a large amount of foreign currency may have been in the safe. The money was to be used in transactions being conducted by Laparkan Money Transfer unit.

Yesterday afternoon, Commander of "B" Division, Assistant Commissioner Ivelaw Whittaker told this newspaper that the police were investigating the robbery and were searching for clues that could lead to arrests. There was evidence that the bandits had refreshed themselves with some liquids from a refrigerator while in the building. The store also operates a cambio and according to reports the bandits may have been searching for foreign currency while in the building. According to Whittaker, there were no reports of any household, electronic or stationery items being stolen. Most if not all of the businesses in the area are protected by security guards but according to Whittaker no one reported seeing or hearing anything.

A statement from Police Headquarters, Eve Leary said the armed robbery was committed by two men. "Police in response to the report quickly established roadblocks on the Corentyne Coast and on the West Coast of Berbice. Several suspected criminal haunts were also searched", the release added.

Over the past two years the company has had its fair share of ill-luck in East Berbice.

On July 22, 2002 a band of heavily armed men, who attacked the town of Rose Hall on the Lower Corentyne, took several persons hostage including a security guard at the Branch Store. The guard was badly beaten before being shot on his hand close to the Atlantic seashore. He narrowly escaped death when a bullet fired from close range whizzed past his temple.

On February 16 of this year four armed men shot and killed 40-year-old security guard Aditia Seecharran of Cumberland, East Canje while he was on duty at the Rose Hall Town Branch in a botched attempted to rob the store. Seecharran was shot at least three times in his chest, back and abdomen. The men escaped without entering the building.