The criminals, on the other hand, are aware that the police are looking for them and doing their best to avoid betraying the location of their stash. It later transpires that the money is just a smokescreen for a top-secret document that the gang's leader - actually a KGB officer - is trying to smuggle out of the country.
The criminals are trying to hide their location, but it turns out that they are using the money as a cover for something much more important: a secret document being smuggled out by the leader of the gang, who is actually a KGB agent.