Divers search Belgian river for evidence of 2022 Tefaf jewelry heist
The Dutch and Belgian police are searching the Vesder river in Verviers, Belgium, on Monday for evidence in the investigation into the major jewelry robbery at the Tefaf fair in Maastricht in 2022. The Dutch police’s National Underwater Search Team and the Belgian Maritime Police are searching a water basin along the river under a highway, the Telegraaf reports.
The police cordoned off the area as divers went into the water with magnets. The Limburg police told the Telegraaf that they were looking for evidence linked to the jewelry heist in Maastricht on 28 June 2022. According to the newspaper, this is the first major search operation in this case.
The robbery, in which at least 40 million euros worth of jewelry was stolen, is still unsolved. Only two diamonds from one necklace have since been recovered, one in Israel and one in Hong Kong.
Investigation showed that the suspects stayed in Belgium, in Liège and Verviers, before the heist. They then fled to Serbia via Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Hungary, among other places. Security camera footage showed that the robbers stopped at several locations, including the stretch of water in Verviers that the police are searching on Monday.
The Dutch police believe they are looking for a group of perpetrators from the Balkans, likely Serbia and Belgrade. Art detective Arthur Brand is convinced the theft was committed by the Pink Panthers - a well-known jewelry gang tied to half a billion euros worth of jewelry thefts worldwide in the past 25 years.
