Earlier this year, three high-profile prisoners escaped from prisons in Switzerland. These three are part of the infamous "Pink Panther" gang. This gang has pulled off a staggering amount of thefts from jewelry and luxury watch stores all around the world. Throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States, these thieves have executed an astonishing number of heists. According to Interpol, the Pink Panther gang has amassed more than 330 million euros in stolen valuables since 1999. That is the equivalent of $436 million over nearly three hundred and forty robberies.
In 2007, the gang took less than a minute to steal $14 million worth of jewels from a Dubai store. They drove into a mall and through the jewelry store's window before they sped out. One hundred and ten million dollars of jewels were stolen about a year later when the gang pulled off a heist at a Harry Winston store in Paris, entering the jewelers disguised as women.
On this Tuesday, August 21, French police caught one of these recently escaped members. Though this man's escape took place before the prominent French Riviera heist, police are saying that as of now, they can only discern that the rearrested robber was trying to lay low. Right now they do not believe he is the robber wanted for the Riviera theft.
This escaped Pink Panther member had an international arrest warrant out for him. The Montenegro native is charged with armed robbery, drug trafficking, and escaping prison. He is also a wanted man in Macedonia on a murder charge, where he was convicted in absentia of having murdered his former girlfriend. He denies this charge.
Police caught the man as he was trying to slip out of the window of an acquaintance's villa in Provence. About 20 armed officers conducted a search of the villa based off of a tip that had been provided by Swiss authorities.
While police have caught one notorious thief, there are still other high-profile culprits at large. Another member of the Pink Panther gang and an accomplice escaped prison when others in the gang stormed the prison with AK-47s.
Then there is the fact that Southeast France has been plagued by a string of unsolved jewel thefts in recent months. During the Cannes Film Festival, two of these thefts hit South France, such as when thieves took precious gems out of a hotel room.
One man, armed and masked, was able to walk into the Carlton International Hotel in Cannes. He ordered that he be given loads of rings, pendants, diamond earrings, and watches covered in diamonds. Though some of his loot fell out while he was escaping, he managed to steal $136 million worth of jewels in what is perhaps the biggest jewel theft ever. The robbery took place in only a minute or so. Though police have so far stated that they do not have evidence tying the man they arrested to this robbery, a security official has ventured to say that the Pink Panther gang might have been involved. When this crime was originally reported, articles mentioned that the timeline of the heist fits with the escape of Pink Panther members. The bold and dramatic manner of such a theft has also seemed to match how this gang operates.
There is now a $1.3 million reward for tips that lead to the recovery of the stolen valuables. Some are hopeful that this will elicit information, as a one million dollar award led to the uncovering of more than half of the jewelry looted in a $105 million heist back in 2008.
