Fifth suspect arrested for Drents Museum robbery; Romanian treasures still missing

The police have arrested a fifth suspect in the investigation into the theft of several Romanian treasures from the Drents Museum in Assen. The police arrested the 36-year-old man in a home in Alkmaar on Tuesday morning. “The stolen golden art treasures have not yet been found,” the police said.

This suspect is not the man seen on surveillance camera footage from a hardware store in Assen that the police were looking for. The police are still looking for that man.

This fifth suspect emerged during the investigation. He is in custody for questioning. The police also searched a home in Alkmaar and seized digital data carriers for further investigation.

Thieves stole a golden helment and three gold armbands from the Drents Museum on January 25. The Romanian cultural artifacts were on loan to the museum in Assen, and the theft has led to outrage in Romania. There is a reward of 250,000 euros for information that leads to the treasures being found.

Four suspects were previously arrested in this case, three on January 29 after the robbery and a fourth in February. Three of these suspects are still in custody.

The Dutch government stood guarantor for the loan of the artifacts, something the government often does to lower insurance premiums for museums and enable them to put on exhibitions. That means that, if these artifacts are not recovered, the theft could cost the Dutch government 5.8 million euros.