SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 29 March 2024, Friday |

Italian police arrest eight people across Europe over 2017 Venice jewelry heist

Italian police arrested eight people across Europe in connection with substantial robber attempt of a jewelry store in Saint Mark’s Square in Venice in 2017

The Carabinieri police said that eight suspects, arrested in Austria, Estonia and Finland, belonged to an Estonian gang specialized in heists of luxury European jeweler stores.

Among those arrested was the leader of the group, who was found in Finland, and had already been sentenced for multiple robberies, and even murder, reported Italian news wire AGI.

In March 2017, members of a gang of robbers set off smoke bombs in St Mark’s Square as a distraction before targeting a jewelry store.

But the attempted heist failed after a tourist warned nearby police on patrol, and the armed thieves escaped.

Video images provided by police showed one suspect placing a smoke bomb at the base of the bell tower in the square, and panicked pedestrians hurrying away after the device began emitting thick plumes of grey smoke.

Another smoke bomb was placed in a narrow nearby street.

The arrests announced Monday followed a years-long investigation coordinated by Europol. Police said the gang also carried out three robberies in 2016 and 2017 in Bastia, Corsica, and Innsbruck, Austria, with an estimated loot of one million euros.

    Source:
  • AFP