Antwerp, Belgium is one of the diamond capitals of the world, with 80 percent of the world's diamonds passing through the city before being sold on the market. There have been a number of robberies there, most recently a still unsolved $28 million heist in 2007, but the biggest was in 2003, when a team of master criminals known as the Turin School got away with $100. million in uncut diamonds from the Antwerp Diamond Center warehouse. In terms of scope, ingenuity and risk, few heists will ever match this. The criminals had been planning the heist for years and were able to bypass the warehouse's multi-million dollar security system, which was thought to be impenetrable, using copied keys and fake security camera footage. The thieves escaped without incident, but DNA left at the scene allowed them to be tracked to Italy, where most of the gang have since been apprehended. Meanwhile, the $100 million diamond seems to have disappeared forever.
2.The Baker Street Robbery
The Baker Street heist took place in London in 1971, when a group of well-equipped thieves tunneled into the Baker Street Bank and stole £3 million worth of cash and valuables from safe deposit boxes. The criminals used a combination of metal cutting tools and explosives to break into the warehouse from a nearby shop and even set up a lookout on a nearby roof. Near the end of the robbery, a ham radio operator overheard some of the guard's radio transmissions and contacted the police, who frantically searched over seven hundred banks in the area in hopes of locating the transmission. They failed to catch the robbers at the time, but nearly two years later several men were charged in connection with the theft, although police believe the real mastermind behind the crime was never caught.
3.The Harry Winston Heist
In 2008, the Harry Winston Heist, when a group of four raided one of Paris' most exclusive jewelry stores and made off with $108 million worth of diamonds, became one of the most blatant heists of recent times. The men were dressed as women and armed with .357 Magnums and hand grenades. They quickly cornered the employees and customers and started smashing the open windows and ran away after filling the suitcase with precious stones. No one has been arrested for the heist, but police suspect the bandits, nicknamed the "Pink Panthers," were part of a larger Yugoslav criminal organization responsible for several other high-profile jewelry heists. robbers. Meanwhile, a $1 million reward remains for any information leading to the arrest of the thieves.
4.Knightsbridge Security Deposit Robbery
One of the boldest and most successful heists of all time, the Knightsbridge Safe Deposit Heist took place in London in 1987, when career criminal Valerio Viccei and a small group of gun-toting associates got away with £60 million worth of goods and cash. safe deposit boxes. The thieves entered the cash register claiming to rent their own safe, and once inside, they overpowered the employees and security guards and managed to break the boxes. They escaped without incident, but some blood left at the scene allowed police to trace the theft back to Viccei, who was wanted for a large number of robberies in his native Italy. Viccei's companions were quickly arrested, but he fled the country and eluded capture for some time.
5.Central Bank Robbery
Considered one of the biggest bank robberies of all time, the Banco Central robbery took place in Fortaleza, Brazil in 2005. The heist was the result of painstaking planning by a small band of robbers who tunneled more than 250 meters from a nearby property into the bank's vault. The robbers used the landscaping as a front for their operations, using a master cover that allowed them to remove large amounts of dirt and rock from the tunnel without being seen as suspicious. The tunnel itself was elaborately constructed and was said to have excellent lighting and even an air conditioning system. After three months of digging, the thieves finally broke into the vault and made off with more than 165 million Brazilian reals, or $70 million. seized the dollar, but most of the suspects are still at large.
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