Sourcing

Report: Four more arrested in Brussels airport heist

SourcingMay 19, 2014

Report: Four more arrested in Brussels airport heist

Additional suspects have been taken into custody in connection with last year’s $50 million diamond heist at Brussels Airport, according to Paris-based news agency Agence France-Presse. 

New York--Additional suspects have been taken into custody in connection with last year’s $50 million diamond heist at Brussels Airport, according to Paris-based news agency Agence France-Presse.

The AFP reports that four Europeans of Moroccan origin were arrested in Morocco, acting on international arrest warrants issued by Brussels and The Hague.

Neither the date of the arrests nor additional information about the investigation was available at press time. Police officials in Europe did not respond to request for comment on the case. 

The men were wanted for armed attacks, murder attempts and jewelry thefts, most notably of which is the diamond heist that occurred in February 2013 at Brussels Airport. During the incident, eight heavily armed men disguised as policemen drove through a fence surrounding the airport’s perimeter and up to a Brinks van that had just finished unloading diamonds onto a Swiss passenger flight bound for Zurich.

RELATED CONTENT: Airport diamond robbery ‘significant’ for Antwerp

The men then stole 120 parcels of rough and polished diamonds in less than five minutes.

They were described as “well prepared” for the heist, and the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) said at the time they believed the armed robbery was the work of a gang of professional criminals. The AWDC placed the value of the diamonds at $50 million.

RELATED CONTENT: Police arrest 31 in $50M airport diamond heist

In May 2013, Brussels police announced that they had rounded up a total of 31 suspects in three different countries wanted in connection with the heist during a number of raids. 

Brecken Branstratoris the senior editor, gemstones at National Jeweler, covering sourcing, pricing and other developments in the colored stone sector.

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