US$53m jewels heist from hotel in Cannes
Print Edition
A STAGGERING 40 million euros’ (US$53 million) worth of diamonds and other jewels were stolen from the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes yesterday in one of Europe’s biggest jewelry heists.
The hotel in the sweltering French Riviera was hosting a temporary exhibit of jewelry from the prestigious Leviev diamond house, owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev.
A police spokesman said the theft took place around noon, but could not confirm reports that the robber was a gunman who stuffed a suitcase with gems before making a swift exit.
The hotel is situated on the Promenade de la Croisette that stretches a mile and a half along the French Riviera, and is thronged by the rich and famous throughout the year. The hotel’s position provides not only a beautiful view of the sea, but an easy get away for potential jewel thieves along the long stretch of road.
Several brazen jewelry thefts have taken place this year, including one in Belgium on February 18 that involved some US$50 million worth of diamonds.
In that heist, stones from the global diamond center of Antwerp had been loaded onto a plane headed to Zurich when robbers dressed in dark police clothing and hoods drove through a hole they’d cut in the Brussels Airport fence and on to the tarmac. They approached the plane, brandished machine guns, offloaded the diamonds, and left in an operation that took barely five minutes.
Authorities have since detained dozens of people and recovered many of the stolen stones.
In May, Cannes was struck by two highly publicized jewelry heists during the Cannes Film Festival.
In the first, robbers stole about US$1 million worth of jewels after ripping a safe from the wall of a hotel room.
In the second, thieves outsmarted 80 security guards in a hotel and made off with a De Grisogono necklace creators say is worth US$2.6 million.
Meanwhile, last Thursday, a member of the notorious “Pink Panther” jewel thief gang escaped from a Swiss prison after accomplices rammed a gate and overpowered guards with bursts from their AK-47s, police said. Milan Poparic fled with fellow inmate Adrian Albrecht from the Orbe prison in the western state of Vaud.
Police say Pink Panthers members are prime suspects in a series of daring thefts.
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