Introduction (GTA III)

The introduction on GTA III is the zeroth mission of GTA III.

Bank heist
The introduction opens with a shot of the Liberty City Bank, as a Banshee driven by Miguel zips by and stops in front of an adjoining alleyway to pick up a team of three bank robbers who have just robbed the bank: Catalina, Claude and an unnamed associate with Colombian Cartel attire. After shooting a security camera, Claude attempts to rejoin the other two, but learns Catalina has double crossed Claude by gunning him and the third accomplice down. This leaves Catalina and Miguel to feast on the spoils of the heist while Claude, slumped on the ground on the alleyway, survives but is arrested by the Liberty City Police Department. Catalina reveals her ambitions to rise up the ranks of the criminal world, but felt Claude was not up to par for her, hence the betrayal and decision to join Miguel's powerful Colombian Cartel gang instead. Claude's thirst for revenge on Catalina will become a part of the game's plot.

Custody and escape
Claude, now in police custody, is intended to transfer from police headquarters in Staunton to Liberty Penitentiary to serve out his 10-year jail sentence. Claude is to be taken there via a police convoy that is also transporting two other inmates: 8-Ball, following an arrest which left both his hands fully bandaged, and an oriental man of unknown origin, arrested for possessing no legal documents. While crossing the Callahan Bridge from Staunton to Portland, the convoy is ambushed by a well coordinated Colombian Cartel team, whose intention is to capture the oriental prisoner as ransom, seemingly caring little of the fate of the other prisoners. To ensure their escape, the team left a powerful bomb on the bridge, resulting in an explosion that damages the bridge and cuts Portland off from the rest of Liberty City.

Trivia

 * The bank scene takes place in a non-functional location originally confused as being within Liberty City itself. The set is situated far west from Shoreside Vale, and is only accessible by way of the Dodo under normal circumstances. The bank was supposedly located in Shoreside Vale, in the location of the airport (which the airport was located in Staunton Island before), as seen in beta pictures and drawings.
 * The vehicles involved during the police convoy ambush scene are driverless.
 * If the cheat code, destroy all cars, is inserted during the cutscene, all vehicles will explode and still continue to drive. This can also be done with other cutscene that includes cars.
 * The Colombian Cartel members who kidnap the Old Oriental Gentleman in the introduction do not wear hawaiian shirts.
 * Miguel drives a Banshee for a getaway car, which is strange as there are four people in the group and a Banshee has only two seats. This could be hinting Catalina's betrayal.
 * The Colombian Cartel immediately become hostile after the cutscene (and at the beginning of the game).