Disguised as police, armed robbers broke through Brussels Airport on Monday evening and broke into the cargo of a Swiss-bound plane to take the gems, estimated to be worth $50m (£32m; 37m euros).

‘Hub of the world diamond trade’

They escaped back through the same hole. Police later found a burned-out vehicle close to the airport. Police are looking for eight men, a prosecutors’ spokeswoman said.

Caroline De Wolf, of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, estimated the haul at $50m, saying: “What we are talking about is obviously a gigantic sum.”

AFP quoted an unnamed spokeswoman at the same Antwerp centre calling the robbery “one of the biggest” ever. She said that the diamonds were “rough stones” being transported from Antwerp to Zurich. Antwerp is the hub of the world diamond trade – about 150m euros’ worth of stones move in and out of the city every day, the spokeswoman added.

‘Secure and discreet’

Brussels prosecutor’s spokeswoman Anja Bijnens said the thieves were masked and well armed, and used two black vehicles with police markings. The forced their way through security barriers and sped towards the Helvetic Airways plane about to take off – forcing open the cargo to reach gems that had already been loaded on.

The thieves took 120 packages – only some of the shipment, she said. No shots were fired and no-one was hurt. The raid was over in a matter of minutes, and the thieves made off into the night. They were “professionals”, Ms Bijnens said. Ms De Wolf said the raid was a blow to Antwerp’s reputation as a secure and discreet diamond centre.

Given the ease that this diamond heist was carried out, do you think this robbery group had some inside help? Feel free to share your speculations with us via the comment box below!

Source: BBC News

Image: The Guardian