Police in London yesterday arrested one man over a daring heist that netted almost £40 million (US$65 million) in jewelry on Tuesday.
Two smartly dressed armed robbers walked into an exclusive store in London’s chic Mayfair district and stole what is believed to be the biggest gem heist in British history, Scotland Yard said on Tuesday.
Scotland Yard said the suspect was not one of the two well-dressed men shown widely in CCTV footage released by authorities on Tuesday.
Police said those two men were still at large and that there were at least four suspects.
Posing as clients, the criminals made their way past a security guard after arriving in a black cab at Graff jewelers in the West End of London last Thursday. Once they had been allowed through the airlock door into the prestigious New Bond Street shop, the men, dressed in business suits, pulled out handguns, forced staff on to the floor, and grabbed rings, bracelets, necklaces and watches.
CCTV footage released by Scotland Yard showed the pair entering the jewelers. They fired two warning shots into the ground before escaping in a series of vehicles across central London.
The extent of the heist was kept secret for nearly a week. Police have now revealed the items stolen were worth £40 million, dwarfing Britain’s previous biggest diamond jewelry robbery, in 2003, when items worth £23 million were stolen, also from Graff’s.
Police also released images of some of the 43 items of stolen jewelry, including a pair of white round diamond double-hoop earrings, a yellow diamond flower necklace, a platinum white Marquise diamond ring, and a men’s chronograph 45mm watch.
After seizing the gems, the men briefly took a female staff member hostage, apparently to ensure they were not trapped between the security doors. As they left they fired a shot into the ground before getting into a blue BMW.
The robbers’ escape almost came to an abrupt end when their car crashed into a taxi in a nearby street. They abandoned the car, firing a second shot into the ground as members of the public pursued them, before making off in a silver Mercedes. They then changed cars again, climbing into a black vehicle.
The men — both in their 30s with London accents — are thought to have passed the stolen jewelry to a waiting motorcyclist, who made a quick getaway. At least two other men were acting as getaway drivers in three cars, police believe.
Detective Chief Inspector Pam Mace, of London’s Metropolitan police flying squad said this had been a well-planned robbery with a number of vehicles used to help the robbers escape.
The suspects’ details have been circulated to all ports and airports.
Antonia Kimbell, from the Art Loss Register’s recovery unit, said the thieves were likely to have fled abroad within hours of the robbery.
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
RSS