Raiders Escape with $9.5 Million Worth of Jewelry in France
March 11, 15
(IDEX Online News) – France has once again become the location of a daring jewelry heist. According to media reports, armed robbers targeted security vans carrying jewels in a late-night raid near Auxerre yesterday (Tuesday). The amount of goods stolen in the heist is estimated to be €9 million ($9.5 million) although no details have been released about them.
A police spokesman told CNN that 15 men attacked the two vans, which were travelling between Paris and Lyon, around midnight Tuesday on the A6 highway at the Avallon tollbooth, about 170 kilometers southeast of Paris.
No shots were fired in the raid and the robbers escaped in four high-speed cars and the two vans, which CNN reports were found abandoned near the tollbooth.
Police are continuing to search for the suspects.
The highway heist is the latest in a string of jewelry robberies in France. In January, two hostages were taken in a robbery during a jewelry store in Montpellier. Last year, jewelry, including diamond-studded watches, valued at about $136 million was stolen at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes.
Last week, eight people were convicted for their parts in a 2008 heist at a Harry Winston store in Paris. During that incident, three gunmen made off with about $92 million worth of goods in less than 20 minutes.