Jewelry worth $72 million stolen: jewelry thief caught after 19 years

class=”sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc”>

Police in Spain have arrested a man wanted in the Netherlands for stealing jewelry and diamonds worth $72 million. Police announced on Wednesday that the 59-year-old, who was wanted on a European arrest warrant, was arrested on the holiday island of Ibiza on Tuesday. A car with the wanted man in the passenger seat was chased for several kilometers and eventually forced to stop, it was said.

The robbery of which the man is accused took place on February 25, 2005 at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. According to police, the arrested man and other people stole “jewelry and diamonds worth more than 72 million dollars” (which amounts to 67 million euros today).

The perpetrators used firearms and acted “with great violence”. According to media reports, it was one of the largest and most spectacular jewelry thefts in history.

Possibly surgery

This is not the first arrest of the alleged mastermind of the crime. The man was arrested in 2017 along with five other people in Valencia in eastern Spain, the newspaper ‘El País’ and other media reported. He was extradited to the Netherlands at the time and sentenced to several years in prison there in 2019. However, he was able to escape after being released pending the outcome of the appeal process requested by his lawyers.

During the arrest, Spanish police noted that the man was “physically significantly changed compared to the available photos.” “The arrested man looks much younger and thinner, so the possibility that he has undergone surgery to alter his appearance cannot be ruled out,” the report said. (SDA)

Source: Blick