WATCH: The thieves who drilled into a high security vault in London’s diamond district, made off with millions in precious diamonds and jewels. As Stuart Greer reports, there are concerns the daring robbery could cripple the city’s jewel trade.
TORONTO – In a Hollywood like heist, thieves used heavy cutting equipment and rappelling gear to break into a vault containing millions worth of diamonds and other gems in London, U.K’s jewelry district over the Easter weekend.
Scotland Yard said it is hunting for a team of thieves after a number of safety deposit boxes were broken into at Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd., home to London’s diamond trade, according to multiple reports.
According to The Telegraph, police believe thieves cut through the roof before scaling down a lift shaft to access the vault on Friday at the beginning of the Easter weekend. The audacious thieves are then believed to have had four days to breakthrough a metal door 45 centimetres-thick and empty the safety deposit boxes.
The theft was reported Tuesday morning when jewelers opened for business. London police would not say how many deposit boxes were broken into, but The Telegraph is reporting the haul could be worth £200 million pounds (US$300 million, or CDN$370 million).
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Jeweller Michael Miller told The Guardian he was worried at the prospect of losing up to £50,000 pounds (CDN$92,000) of uninsured jewelry and watches.
“Lot of people keep their jewelry here to reduce insurance costs. I just can’t believe it has happened,” he said. “If you look at the website it says it is the safest place around. I’m extremely shocked. There is a double door before you even get to the vault.”
Mohammed Shah, a precious gems dealer, told The Times he had roughly £100,000 pounds (CDN$186,500) worth of gems in a safety deposit box.
“Everybody wants to know what has been taken but the police are not telling us anything,” he told The Times. “I am waiting to find out. They said they could maybe tell me tomorrow. I am insured but many people who use these boxes are not. The truth is nobody really knows what is kept in these boxes.”
The famed jewelry district has been a target for thieves in the past. In 2003, a robber posing as a customer made off with £1.5 million pounds (CDN$2.8 million) worth of jewelry and cash. In 1987, two armed robbers got away with an estimated £60 million pounds (CDN$111 million) worth of jewels.
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