Jewel thefts in Canada used to be simple. The robbers would walk into a store, often with a gun, take a hammer to display cases, and then run away with gems, gold and watches.But as security in the stores improved, some gangs changed their tactics. They began to target traveling jewel salesmen in their homes and on the street – before the jewels even end up in stores.
It was a phenomenon that began in the United States with gangs made up of Colombian nationals.
“We’ve had salesmen who’ve had a robbery committed against them in a parking lot,” says John J.Kennedy, a New York based jewelry security expert. “They tried to pursue the car, tried to jump on the car because there was an open window . . . tried to get their bag back and of course the Colombians pushed them off and then backed the car over them and killed them. So the ultimate danger is you get killed.”
No one has been killed yet in Canada, but the crime itself has become more common here, and the criminals more brazen.
“They steal your goods, make a ton of money out of it and drive somebody else’s vehicle that they just stole with minimal risk,” says Gordon Smith, a Vancouver based insurance broker. “The cops can’t be everywhere.”
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Police are still learning how to deal with the organized gangs, with limited success. In the past two years, for example, Calgary has seen 12 major jewel thefts of up to $600,000 in stolen goods but police haven’t been able to make any arrests. And in Chilliwack, B.C., last August, thieves made off with $3.3 million worth of jewels from the trunk of a parked car.
“There has certainly been an upsurge of this activity in Canada and I think that probably has been . . . (because the thieves were) chased out of the US and are more active north of the border,” says Kennedy.
Gordon Smith was a victim himself of this type of robbery last year. He was sitting in his parked car outside a Calgary jewelry store when he was approached and attacked by a gang who mistook him for a salesman.
“He now comes through the window and he’s a young guy probably about 25, 28 years of age. Very well built, big shoulders, strong guy and he comes through the window with both of his hands going for my throat,” he says. “And of course he’s much stronger than I am and he’s got the bag and he’s gone.”
The RCMP has created a National Diamond Program to help other police forces in their fight against the jewel crimes. Corporal Kelly Ross explains how the gangs work.
“They’re crafty. They just don’t park themselves in Toronto or Calgary or Vancouver for any one time. They move and it appears that people within these groups actually change too . . . That makes it very difficult for law enforcement to try to pin them down.”
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