Quite A Haul: $50 Million Worth Of Diamonds Stolen In Lightning-Fast Heist

It was all over in just a few minutes.

“What we are talking about is obviously a gigantic sum,” says Caroline De Wolf of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre. She says the diamonds were “rough stones” being transported from Antwerp to Zurich.

According to The Guardian:

“The raid at Brussels airport happened just before 8 p.m. … The heavily armed men drove through the airport security fence in two vehicles, a Mercedes van and a car, and made straight for a Brink’s delivery van. The staff were loading safes full of diamonds on to a … plane bound for Zurich. The gunmen quickly filled their vehicles with the boxes and fled through the same broken security barrier. No shots were fired. A burned-out van was later found nearby. The raid lasted just three minutes.”

Now, what will the thieves do with their loot? If the past is any guide, they won’t get anywhere near $50 million — provided they aren’t caught. They may already have made arrangements with some less-than-scrupulous dealers who will try to unload the diamonds at a deep discount.

In November 2011, the New York Postprofiled FBI Special Agent Dan McCaffrey, the bureau’s “expert on gems and the crooks who steal them.” The Post wrote that:

“When $14 million in loose diamonds vanished in Belgium, McCaffrey became part of the pack of investigators chasing the thieves around the world.

“McCaffrey soon zeroed-in on a diamond dealer who had set up shop on W. 47th Street, in the Diamond District, and who was selling stones at 30% of market value.

“He discovered that the Manhattan jeweler had been hired to unload the hot rocks by the son of the Belgian who reported the theft. McCaffrey locked up the son and his fence, recovered the diamonds — and personally flew them back to Belgium and the rightful owner.”