Dutch Police Checking Link between Suspicious Activity and Heist

Holland's military police are investigating links between suspicious activity at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on February 10 and a $100 million heist of diamonds and jewelry that took place two weeks later.

Police investigators believe the robbers who carried out the spectacular robbery on February 25 – one of the biggest of its kind ever carried out – were making preparations for the robbery due to suspicious movements reported by witnesses on February 10.

A military police spokeswoman said the movements earlier in the month were likely connected to the robbery.

Military police handed out leaflets to airport workers on Thursday and Friday requesting them to come forward with information if they saw any suspicious activities close to the freight terminal, particularly on February 10 and the day of the robbery.

Police, who believe the robbers had inside help, have yet to make any arrests. Schiphol airport has carried out a security upgrade following the raid in which two armed men, apparently dressed in KLM uniforms, intercepted an armored truck carrying the diamonds and jewelry in the secure area of the airport.

The two guards accompanying the goods were forced at gunpoint to get out of the truck and lie on the ground. The thieves then calmly drove the armored car out of the terminal and left the airport without being stopped, as did the car in which they arrived, in which was another accomplice or two.

The truck was later found abandoned in the industrial zone of Hoofddorp, a small town next to Schiphol.