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Shutterstock/Ken Tannenbaum
diamonds are forever
Seven arrested over $72 million Amsterdam diamond heist from 2005
Most of the stolen diamonds have never been accounted for in what is known as one of the world’s biggest ever heists.
SEVEN PEOPLE HAVE been arrested over the robbery of $72 million (equal to €67 million) in jewellery from Amsterdam’s airport nearly 12 years ago, authorities said today.
The diamonds and jewellery were taken during the hold-up of a KLM armoured car in a high-security portion of Schiphol airport in February 2005, police said in a statement.
Though the thieves were armed, no one was hurt in the heist.
Police “carried out [yesterday and today], a total of seven arrests in connection with the diamond theft at Schiphol airport in February 2005 and money laundering,” the statement said.
The five male and two female suspects, all Dutch nationals, were arrested in Amsterdam and Valencia, in eastern Spain.
While some of the stolen diamonds were found in an escape vehicle immediately after the heist, the rest – valued at $43 million – remain unaccounted for.
Four people had been arrested soon after the incident, one of the Netherlands’ worst cases of theft.
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