Eight masked gunmen forced their way through the security fence at Brussels international airport, drove on to the tarmac and snatched diamonds worth around €37.5 million from the hold of a plane without firing a shot.
Clinical operation carried out within barely five minutes
The gang responsible for one of the biggest diamond heists in recent years used two black vehicles with flashing blue police lights in the raid on Monday, said Anja Bijnens, spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutors’ office.
“They tried to pass them-selves off as police officers,” Ms Bijnens said.
The thieves, who wore outfits resembling dark police clothing, got away with 120 parcels, mostly containing diamonds but some also holding precious metals. Police said they found a burnt-out mini-van believed to be involved in the robbery near the airport later on Monday night.
The heist was estimated at some $50 million (€37.5 million) in diamonds, said Caroline De Wolf of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre. She added: “What we are talking about is obviously a gigantic sum.”
The robbers forced their way through a fence, at a place where two work sites obstructed a clear view, Ms Bijnens said. There were no details about how the holewas opened but airport authorities said it must have taken more than simply blasting through it with a vehicle.
The robbers drove up to the Swiss passenger plane some 20 minutes before departure time, brandishing their machine guns. Then they methodically broke into the hold, which was accessed from outside, to choose their loot.
Passengers were unable to see the drama beneath them, said Ms Bijnens.
The robbers finished their clinical operation with a high-speed departure through the same hole in the fence, completing the theft within barely five minutes, Ms Bijnens said.
Airport spokesman Jan Van Der Cruijsse could not explain how the area could be so vulnerable to theft. He said: “We abide by the most stringent rules.”
The Swiss flight, bound for Zurich and operated by Helvetic Airways, was cancelled.
A decade ago the port city of Antwerp, the world capital of diamond-cutting, was the scene of what was probably one of the biggest diamond heists in history, when robbers took precious stones, jewels, gold and securities from the high-security vaults at Antwerp’s Diamond Centre, yielding loot that police in 2003 estimated to be worth about $100 million at the time.
Monday’s heist though was a fresh blow to the Antwerp industrial diamond centre which prides itself on security and discretion.
“This is causing quite some unrest,” said Ms De Wolf. “It was incredible how easy it all went. This is worrying in terms of competitiveness, since other diamond centres are ready to pounce and take over our position.” Antwerp’s Diamond Centre stands in the heart of the high-surveillance diamond district where police and hundreds of cameras work around the clock, and security has been beefed up further since the 2003 robbery. Shipments to the airport leave aboard armoured trucks on an almost daily basis.
Monday’s parcels contained rough and polished stones heading for Switzerland, where many of the 120 parcels were intended for different handlers.