Necklace worth €27 million snatched in Tefaf Maastricht art fair robbery: Report
The four men who robbed a stand at the Tefaf art fair in Maastricht on Tuesday made off with a necklace worth 27 million euros, according to a witness to the robbery. The witness learned of the valuation from someone at the stand, according to newspaper NRC. Two Belgian men were arrested soon after the 11:40 a.m. incident, and more suspects remained at large.
The art fair was unwilling to confirm or deny the valuation. An unconfirmed rumor also suggested the robbers made off with a pair of earrings worth millions of euros. Police did not state details about the goods which were stolen, a detail authorities in the Netherlands typically try to keep under wraps in an ongoing investigation.
“Earlier today, Tefaf was temporarily evacuated due to an incident at the fair. The situation is under control and the fair is still open to visitors and exhibitors,” the organization said on Twitter.
“Shortly after the robbery, the police arrested two people: a 22-year-old and a 26-year-old man, both from Belgium. These two people were driving a gray vehicle with a Belgian registration number,” police said in a statement. The car was stopped on the southbound A2 just before the Willem Alexandertunnel.
Police did not confirm if they were among the four suspects seen in videos smashing the glass of a display window at the stand operated by London jeweler Symbolic & Chase. While one person repeatedly struck the glass with a sledgehammer, two others appeared to aim firearms at witnesses and bystanders. The suspects were dressed in sport coats and slacks, and three of them were wearing flat caps.
They then ran out of the building. The people working at the stand were “very shocked,” said Bart Drenth, the general manager of Tefaf, in an interview with ANP.
Maastricht resident Cees van ‘t Veen was walking his dog next to the Mecc exhibition hall when the incident happened. “Suddenly I saw at least fifty people approaching me. ‘Run, run, men with guns,’ they shouted in panic,” he told NRC. “Then I went home very quickly.”
Drenth said that, despite the robbers reportedly making off with substantial loot, the security plan worked well. "The police were on the scene within minutes," he told ANP. A police helicopter and canine units were brought in as part of the investigation.
The Mecc was reopened, and guests were allowed back into the fair by 1 p.m. “Earlier today, Tefaf was temporarily evacuated due to an incident at the fair. The situation is under control and the fair is still open to visitors and exhibitors,” the event organizers said in a statement. Tens of thousands of people attend the fair every year. The 2022 edition will conclude on Thursday.
