MICHEL is the mastermind behind the titular crime within the nailbiting Netflix drama The Helicopter Heist.

He’s based mostly on Charbel Charro, the person who organised the Västberga helicopter theft in 2009.

4

4

Charro’s elaborate scheme

Charro was born to 2 Syrian immigrants to Sweden and grew as much as turn into a PE trainer in Stockholm.

Nonetheless, Charro finally started to turn into concerned with crime and repeatedly appeared on the record of Stockholm’s most prolific criminals.

In 2009, the legal mastermind started plotting his largest scheme but.

He deliberate to conduct a multi-million-dollar heist for which he would wish an skilled thief.

Charro needed to interrupt right into a G4S money service constructing in southern Stockholm, which was beneath fixed surveillance and had exceptionally powerful safety measures.

Unable to rob the money depot himself, he determined to construct a crew to assist him perform the job.

Charro approached Shirwan Safa Kadhum for the job, a person who had been jailed for 2 years after he stole one Rembrandt and two Renoir work from the Swedish Nationwide Museum.

He additionally recruited Goran Bojovic to handle his plan and Mikael Södergran to develop explosives for the theft.

Alexander Erikkson had been employed to pilot the group to the money depot in a helicopter.

The plan was executed on September 23, 2009, when the gang stole a Bell 206 helicopter and flew it to Västberga, Stockholm.

They used explosives to open safety doorways and fled with an amount of cash value £4 million at the moment. 

The police have been prevented from pursuing them as a result of the gang had positioned decoy bombs on the police helicopter base, grounding all of their plane. 

The authorities have been additionally not capable of pursue the thieves on the street as a result of the robbers had scattered caltrops throughout the roads. 

Every of the conspirators have been shortly captured although, after fleeing the nation. 

Kadhum was arrested by native legislation enforcement when he arrived within the Dominican Republic and Erikkson was arrested within the Canary Islands. 

4

Charro’s shocking arrest

Charro was caught nearly by mistake. 

He was stopped by visitors police for a routine verify after they discovered a receipt for 5 pay as you go telephones and SIM playing cards. 

After they ran the cellphone numbers by means of their database, Charro was arrested and finally handed a 5 yr jail sentence. 

The reciept was the one concrete piece of proof tying him to the case, the place DNA traces made it simpler to hyperlink Kadhum and Södergran to the crime. 

4

The Helicopter Heist

In The Helicopter Heist, the character Michel is predicated on Charro. 

Michel is a detailed buddy of Rami, a fictionalised model of Kadhum, although this was not the case with their real-life counterparts. 

He’s performed by Ardalan Esmaili, an Iranian actor who moved to Sweden when he was simply two years previous. 

The Helicopter Heist is accessible to stream on Netflix from November 22, 2024.