The Hague, March 3. The Dutch police announced on Friday that they had found one of the many jewels stolen last year at the TEFAF art fair in Maastricht, although it is not the most valuable, and assured that the investigation to identify the perpetrators of the heist will focus on “a specific group of Balkan suspects.”
In their first update since last summer, Dutch police assured that the investigation into the TEFAF heist in late June, in which “a large collection” of jewelery was stolen, continues to move forward and that the clues obtained so far “point in the direction of suspects from the Balkans”.
A jewel that was recovered is also under investigation, but “it is not the famous big yellow diamond” of 114 carats valued at 27 million euros, which was the most expensive piece stolen from the TEFAF, although with this discovery “another big step can be taken”, said the head of the investigation, who was not identified in the note.
They also don’t want to make public the details of how and where this part of the loot was found.
“The investigation still attracts a lot of international attention. From the media, but especially from the international art world. Especially for the next edition of this great art fair, which will take place again this month (in the Dutch city of Maastricht) We are doing everything we can to solve this brutal theft,” he stressed.
The team investigating what happened is made up of around 20 detectives and works in cooperation with Interpol, Europol and other European countries and the rest of the world, for which the police warn that there is is “a long-running investigation” that has “an unprecedented international component”, but underlined his “confidence that this case can be solved and that the suspects will be arrested and prosecuted”.
Authorities are working with several European countries where similar thefts have taken place, and the investigation is focused on analyzing available archival documents, witness statements, forensic fingerprints, escape routes, places of residence and escape vehicles.
“All the information collected so far means that the investigation is focused on a specific group of suspects from the Balkans. This is an important starting point for us,” added the head of the investigation.
Around noon on June 28, 2022, four men robbed London jewelry stand Symbolic & Chase, which sold vintage jewelry, and one of the thieves began smashing a window with a hammer, while the others shooed visitors away and, according to witnesses, at least two of them possessed a firearm.
After taking the coins, they left the scene with the jewelry in a bag. Iban vestidos con americana, una boina y gafas, una elección de indumentaria que no ha pasado unapercibida por su parecido con los Peaky Blinders, una británica serie creada por Steven Knight que emittede en Netflix y que narrata las hazañas de una pandilla criminal formada tras the Second World War.
The fair will celebrate its 36th edition from March 9 to 19, with more than 268 gallery owners representing all sectors, including design and antiques. In other editions, the fair has attracted some 70,000 visitors. EFE
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