Editor’s Note
This article describes a meticulously planned heist at Brussels Airport, where armed robbers disguised as police stole diamonds worth tens of millions from a passenger plane. It highlights the critical role of insider information in the timing and execution of the crime.
They arrived at Brussels Airport with automatic weapons, dressed in police uniforms, and driving two cars equipped with blue police lights. But their most crucial weapon was information: on Monday evening, just 18 minutes before a passenger plane bound for Switzerland was scheduled to take off, eight masked robbers stole diamonds worth tens of millions of dollars from the aircraft, knowing precisely when to strike.
The robbers forced their way through a perimeter fence, activated their police lights, and drove straight to the LX789 aircraft. A Brinks armored truck had just delivered the diamonds from Antwerp, Belgium, to the plane, which was preparing for an 8:05 PM departure to Zurich.
They also knew they had to act quickly within the airport’s secure zone, which is populated by police and security personnel. Brandishing weapons, they calmly ordered ground staff and pilots conducting final checks outside the plane to step back, then began unloading dozens of packages filled with jewels from the cargo hold. The Brussels prosecutor’s office described the weapons as “similar to Kalashnikovs.” Without firing a shot, the robbers swiftly disappeared into the night with their loot. The Antwerp World Diamond Centre estimated the diamonds’ value at about $50 million (approximately 312 million yuan), though some Belgian news reports suggested the haul was worth significantly more.
The robbers’ only mistake: they seized 120 packets of diamonds but left some jewels behind in their haste.
Passengers were already on board, waiting for takeoff. They only realized something was wrong when they were informed that the flight to Zurich, operated by Helvetic Airways, had been canceled and they had to disembark.
He said the audacity of the case was reminiscent in some ways of the so-called “Pink Panther” heists, a series of bold robberies at high-end jewelry stores in Geneva, London, and elsewhere by a gang from the Balkans. However, he noted that Monday’s diamond robbery had military-like precision and targeting an airport suggested a more sophisticated organization than the relatively primitive methods of the “Pink Panther” gang.
The prosecutor stated that police have not yet arrested any suspects in the airport heist, but they have found a burned-out white van believed to have been used by the robbers. The van was discovered near the airport late Monday.
The case dealt an embarrassing blow to the reputation of Brussels Airport and Antwerp’s diamond industry. Belgian police scrambled to solve the case and are examining possible links to earlier robberies at the same airport. Diamonds pass through this airport to and from Antwerp, a major global diamond trading hub, almost daily. Since the mid-1990s, there have been three robberies where gems and other valuables were stolen using similar methods. Most perpetrators of those heists have been caught.
The heist also highlighted how vast airport facilities remain vulnerable despite tightened security measures since the 9/11 attacks in the United States. Most security efforts focus on screening passengers inside terminals, leaving the tarmac outside largely unprotected.
The robbery also unsettled Antwerp’s diamond industry, which is already grappling with challenges from low-cost diamond cutters in India and elsewhere.
She said Antwerp’s total diamond trade last year was $51.9 billion, accounting for 80% of the world’s rough diamond trade and 50% of polished diamond trade. De Wolf stated that Monday’s heist was the largest she could recall.
