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File photo. Claude Paris
hold-up hotspot

Two Qatari women robbed of valuables worth €5 million in Paris motorway heist

Masked men sprayed the women, who are in their sixties, with tear gas before stealing “everything in the vehicle”.

TWO QATARI WOMEN and their driver were held up on a Paris motorway and robbed of valuables worth “at least €5 million”, police sources said today.

The women, who are in their sixties, had just left Le Bourget airport northeast of the capital yesterday when their Bentley was held up by two masked men, who sprayed them with tear gas and stole “everything in the vehicle: jewels, clothes, luggage”, one source said.

The portion of motorway leading north from Paris to the Charles de Gaulle and Le Bourget airports is often the scene of hold-ups targeting wealthy foreigners in luxury cars, some of whom carry large amounts of cash.

The robbers often take advantage of traffic jams to pounce.

Last month, a taxi transporting the CEO of a French furniture chain among other passengers was held up after leaving Le Bourget.

The three robbers made off with an estimated €100,000 in valuables.

A Korean art collector was the target of a similar heist last year, with three attackers snatching €4 million in jewels from her car.

Within Paris itself a number of high-profile robberies have led the government to step up security around tourist spots.

In October, American reality TV star Kim Kardashian was tied up and robbed at gunpoint of $10 million in jewels (worth almost €9,400,000) in a luxury apartment in the heart of the city.

- © AFP, 2016

Read: The US State Department has issued a terror travel alert for Europe

Read: After angry backlash, Turkey backs down on bill that could overturn child-sex convictions

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