jug-heavy
Old American criminal slang for a safecracker — specifically someone who specializes in breaking into safes ('jugs' in heist vernacular).
Definitions
Old American criminal slang for a safecracker — specifically someone who specializes in breaking into safes ('jugs' in heist vernacular). 'Jug-heavy' belongs to the colorful vocabulary of mid-20th century American crime culture, where safes were called jugs and the specialists who cracked them were the heavies. The term appears in pulp fiction, hard-boiled detective novels, and occasionally in accounts of real organized crime from the Prohibition and post-war eras.
The crew needed a jug-heavy for the bank job, and word on the street was there was only one man who could do it in under ten minutes.
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(US, slang) A safecracker.
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Semantically related
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(US, slang, dated) A lawbreaker or criminal.
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An old piece of American underworld slang for a serious criminal or hardened lawbreaker — someone who commits major crimes rather than petty offenses. The 'heavy' in the name suggests weight, gravity, and menace: this isn't a pickpocket, this is someone who robs banks or worse. The term was in circulation during the early 20th century and belongs to the rich vocabulary of American criminal and pulp fiction slang. Mostly historical today, but it still shows up in period dramas and crime writing.
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(UK, informal) A group of bodyguards, enforcers, burly criminals or police, or similar heavies.
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(New York City, slang) A robbery or mugging.