http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/regio/vlaamsbrabant/1.1552594
Translated from Dutch
ZAVENTEM – A Swiss air plane at Zaventem airport (BRU) was robbed by eight people armed with automatic machine guns. The target was a valuables transport for Brinks carrying diamonds and gold. No shots were fired and noone was injured. The robbery took just minutes, taking the valuables from the hold.
Just before 20:00 the group of men drove through the airport perimeter fence with a van and a car. A van was later found burned out near Zellik. While not confirmed, it is believed this was the van involved in the heist.
According to VTM the thieves managed to steal gold and diamonds. Brussels Airport autority only confirmed that valuable items had been taken.
Just a few days ago there was another security breach at Zaventem when a kid managed to fly from Zaventem to Spain without valid ticket, identification or accompanying adults.
Going back further in history, in 2005 a consignment of diamonds was stolen from FedEx at Zaventem. In 2001 a shipment of money and bank papers was stolen from Brinks and in 2000 diamonds where stolen from a Lufthansa plane.
By: tenthije - 8th May 2013 at 11:28
Dutch source:
http://nos.nl/artikel/504517-verdachten-roof-zaventem-gepakt.html
Police have arrested several people for suspected involvement with the diamond robbery at Zaventem, Brussels.
In Belgium 24 people were arrested, in Switzerland six people were arrested and one person was arrested in France. The Belgian justice department has requested France for extradition. It is believed the Frenchman is the mastermind behind the robbery.
Belgian police performance searches at 40 locations in Belgium, mostly in Brussels. Large amounts of money were found. Part of the loot, rough cut diamonds, was retrieved in Switzerland.
The justice department did not say if they had been in contact with their Dutch colleagues. The last few months a few Brink’s trucks were also targeted in the Netherlands.
By: KERVYN - 26th February 2013 at 17:34
A good publicity for HELVETIC AIRWAYS !
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friendly yours,
ETIENNE
By: Arabella-Cox - 24th February 2013 at 20:03
With precision like that they have to have been insiders, people that knew the airfield and its movements like the back of their hand. So whoever fails to turn up to work tomorrow… 😀
Or who turns up in a new Ferrari…
By: Arabella-Cox - 24th February 2013 at 20:02
This is a copycat crime. A similar crime was carried out in Johannesburg (O R Tambo International Airport) a while back. See my entry in Wikipedia :
25 March 2006 – Gunmen held up guards at the airport gates. Others armed with AK-47 assault rifles held up guards and police at a South African Airways aircraft and helped themselves to bags of pound sterling banknotes flown in from Britain. Several airport security staff were implicated in the heist.[39]
By: Matt-100 - 19th February 2013 at 21:58
With precision like that they have to have been insiders, people that knew the airfield and its movements like the back of their hand. So whoever fails to turn up to work tomorrow… 😀
By: tenthije - 19th February 2013 at 21:42
PC mode off
Considering the origin of a good amount of the worst criminals Dacia’s seem more likely. :diablo:
PC mode on
Further details were revealed. The eight were masked but also wore full police uniforms. Their car and van were dark with a blue flashlight. The robbers managed to drive over half the airport! The route they took is shown at the below link (38 seconds into the movie)
http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/mediatheek/programmas/journaal/2.26790/2.26792/1.1552088
120 cases where taken from the plane’s hold by the robbers. Estimated value of the loot is 50 million dollar. The whole heist took less then five minutes from the moment of driving onto airside to the moment of leaving airside.
The robbers have left without a trace. As mentioned earlier a burned out van was found 20 odd KM from the airport. Police have yet to confirm if it was involved in the heist.
By: Arabella-Cox - 19th February 2013 at 16:09
I wonder if the men escaped in three Mini Coopers and a coach?
By: KERVYN - 19th February 2013 at 14:41
YES, it was flight n° LX789 ;
it’s confirmed , but in German ;
(+- at the end of the article) ;
friendly, Etienne
By: KERVYN - 19th February 2013 at 14:35
most probably it was that flight, yes…
(found with google(be) > news );
8 armed men drive into Brussels airport and steal diamonds worth …
Winnipeg Free Press-il y a 8 minutes
8 armed men drive into Brussels airport and steal diamonds worth $50 million … The gang responsible for one of the biggest diamond heists in recent years … The Swiss flight, bound for Zurich and operated by Helvetic Airways, was cancelled.
friendly, Etienne
By: Matt-100 - 19th February 2013 at 11:57
I’m guessing this was the flight?
http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightStatus/flightStatusByFlight.do?id=288824927&airline=2L&flightNumber=789&departureDate=2013-02-18
And just read something in the independent “The insurance for air transport – handled sometimes by airlines themselves or external insurance companies – is usually relatively cheap because it is considered to be the safest way of transporting small high-value items, logistics experts say.” 😀
By: Matt-100 - 19th February 2013 at 11:42
This is being reported as possibly the largest robbery in history, €50 million (£43 million) in uncut diamonds.
What I’d like to know is what security’s like at Brussels? At LHR there’s round the clock 24/7 surveillance and constant police presence at the perimeter fence. Either these guys knew exactly what they were doing (insiders?), or there’s been a serious breach of security.
By: tenthije - 19th February 2013 at 08:31
Belgian and Dutch press were quick to pick up the story, followed by French and Swiss. But so far I have yet to find a well known English source. So for now Google translate is your friend.
A statement is expected by the justice department around 11:00 local time.
Latest word is the diamonds were valued at 50 million. It is unclear for me if this was the value of the entire consignment, or “only” the value of the stolen diamonds. Apparently the diamonds were rough cut as well, which makes them a lot harder to identify and therefor easier to sell.
By: Newforest - 19th February 2013 at 08:03
This is in English (but it wasn’t originally!). 😉
http://www.habermonitor.com/en/haber/detay/brussels-airport-with-machine-guns-and-diamon/67788/
By: Deano - 19th February 2013 at 00:00
I got back into BRU at 19:40L from Strasbourg tonight having operated out of here all day. Do you have a link that is in English at all?
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February 18, 2013 at 11:01 pm