Diamond Theft at IIJS (Update 3)

A box with 880 carats of diamonds worth $1.45 million was stolen from Dalumi’s booth at the IIJS show in Mumbai on Monday. Using a diversion to distract booth workers, a gang picked up a box of diamonds and walked out of the fairgrounds straight to the airport, fleeing India. They were apprehended in Dubai on the following with the diamonds.

he organized group of three men and one woman, later identified as three Mexican nationals and one from Venezuela, visited Dalumi’s booth earlier in the day, probably to examine the booth, and its security measures.

Late in the day, as the show ended and the company started to pack, two members of the gang returned to the booth and started speaking with the diamond trader that managed it. While they distracted his attention, the other two picked up a box of loose diamonds and walked away.

The robbery was documented by CCTV cameras, which helped police identify the gang.

According to Vasant Mehta, chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) that organized the diamond and jewelry show, "Unfortunately, they went from the Bombay Exhibition Centre straight to the Sahar International Airport, and escaped unnoticed on a flight to Dubai.”

“It was a well-planned, professional con job,” Mehta added. The GJEPC immediately closed the fairgrounds; however, the perpetrators have already managed to escape.

GJEPC quickly alerted the police that opened a wide scale investigation that led to the identification of the gang. With the cooperation of Dubai’s law enforcement authorities, the gang was arrested in the airplane as they landed in Dubai. Sources close to the investigation said that the goods were recovered.

On Thursday, the gang was extradited to India, where they will stand trial for the theft.

Dalumi declined to comment on the incident, saying it is still under investigation.

(Last updated August 26, 2010, 11:06)