KARIN is the wife of the fictional character Rami in the Helicopter Heist, a dramatisation of the real-life Västberga helicopter robbery.
She is played by Johanna Hedberg and, like most of the characters in the Netflix show, she is based on a real person connected to the heist.
Rami is played by Mahmut SuvakciNetflix
Karin is played by Johanna HedbergNetflix
Real-life woman
Karin is based on the wife of Shirwan Safa Kadhum, one of the robbers who broke into a cash depot in Southern Stockholm.
Kadhum was deeply in debt at the time and was unable to make ends meet with his salary, which he earned as a trainee chef.
The real-life Karin was pregnant at the time too, creating an additional pressure.
Then, one of Karin’s creditors suggested that he should take part in a scheme which would change his life forever and land him in prison.
Karin’s husband’s crime
On September 23, 2009, Kadhum stole a helicopter alongside his co-conspirators and landed on the roof of a G4S cash service building in Västberga.
They broke through a window using sledgehammers and busted open the compound’s security doors using small bombs.
After fleeing with an amount of money equivalent to £3.9million today, they successfully vanished.
Bombs planted at the police helicopter base made it extremely difficult for the authorities to pursue the robbers.
Eventually, though, the scheme collapsed and the police closed in on the thieves.
The group’s pilot, Alexander Erikkson (or Axel in The Helicopter Heist), was arrested in the Canary Islands.
The heist’s organiser, Charbel Charro (Michel in The Helicopter Heist), was arrested at a routine traffic stop.
Kadhum was arrested too, shortly after fleeing to the in the Dominican Republic.
He claimed that he had fled to the country because he didn’t want the police to search for him at home, which could disturb his pregant wife.
In court, Kadhum was the only member of the gang to plead guilty to his crime.
He was handed an eight-year prison sentence for his crime and eventually was released from prison years later.
Kadhum has maintained an extremely low profile after leaving jail.
The gang used elaborate techniques to gain access to the vaultNetflix
The Helicopter Heist
Kadhum’s crime is dramatised in The Helicopter Heist, where he is named Rami.
In the Netflix show, Karin and Rami are married although they were not in real life.
Karin pleads with her husband to not go through with his crime but she ultimately fails and Rami is put behind bars.
The Helicopter Heist is available to stream on Netflix from November 20, 2024.
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