Undercover cops approached Drents Museum heist suspect trying to find Romanian treasures
The police used undercover cops in the investigation into the theft of Romanian treasures from the Drents Museum in Assen in January. Two secret agents approached the “DIY store suspect” to try and find out where the stolen gold helmet and bracelets are, sources close to the investigation told the Telegraaf. The suspect was arrested on April 23, and the treasures are still missing.
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) refused to comment to the Telegraaf. The first hearing in this case is happening on Friday. Seven suspects have now been arrested for the theft. Four of them are still in custody.
According to the Telegraaf, the police deployed two undercover cops, one of the most serious investigative tools the police can use, in March. The operation aimed to get a suspect to talk because the two main suspects, Douglas Chelsey W. (36) and Bernhard Z. (34) from Heerhugowaard, have not said anything since their arrest in January.
The undercover cops decided to target Jan B., the 20-year-old man with glasses and a cap of whom the police had released a photo in January. He was recorded in a DIY store in Assen, buying the sledgehammers used to smash the cases in the museum. The secret agents first approached B.’s brother as he left a supermarket. They pretended to be intermediaries for a party abroad wanting to buy the stolen art pieces. They said they knew that his brother, Jan B., was involved in the theft, and gave the brother 500 euros and a phone to pass on to Jan B.
The phone put them in direct contact with Jan B. The agents gave him 5,000 euros, and B. told them that the stolen treasures still existed, but he did not know where they were because he had not been able to contact the main suspects. The two are still in restricted custody and not allowed contact with anyone except their lawyers.
The cops offered B. 400,000 euros for the treasures. B. said that it was too little. He suddenly broke off contact in mid-April. The police arrested him on April 23.
The OM said from the start of the investigation that retrieving the stolen Romanian treasures was the main goal. The authorities even went so far as to release the full names and un-blurred photos of the two main suspects after their arrest, because they refused to say where the treasures were. The treasures are still missing.
