The window of a jeweler was attacked with the mass in full fair of art and antiquities of Maastricht.
Armed robbers broke into the Maastricht art and antiques fair in the Netherlands, one of the largest in the world, in broad daylight on Tuesday, using a sledgehammer to smash through a jeweler’s window.
Police say they arrested two of the four suspects and were chasing the other two. The theft resulted in the evacuation of terrified visitors from TEFAF (The European Fine Art Fair).
A spectacular video circulated on social media shows the four men in smart clothes, caps and glasses, smashing through a window of the TEFAF in Maastricht, in the south-west of the country, and threatening the crowd with what appear to be weapons. handguns.
“No one was injured and the thieves stole property,” police in the Dutch province of Limburg said in a statement.
Law enforcement cut off roads near the fair and a major road tunnel as soon as they learned of the theft.
“The police investigation, which began immediately after the theft, led to two arrests,” said the police, who “are focused on finding the suspects”.
According to Dutch media, the shop window targeted by the burglars contained diamond jewelery and other treasures from a London jeweler, Symbolic and Chase.
The company could not be reached by AFP.
TEFAF is one of the largest art and antiques fairs on the planet and usually attracts tens of thousands of visitors. It has been around for over 30 years and was making a comeback this year after a hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The fair’s security team intervened quickly to disarm a violator and the Dutch police were on the scene within minutes. No one was injured during the incident,” a doorman wrote in an email to AFP. -word of TEFAF.
“All visitors, exhibitors and staff were evacuated without any problem. The show has reopened,” the spokesperson added.
“I also saw a weapon”
Footage circulating on social media shows the four thieves amid the chaos they caused at the fair. One of them smashed a jewelry display case to earth, banging on what appeared to be armored glass at least 12 times while the alarm sounded.
Two of the men brandished what looked like pistols at a man who tried to step in, armed with a large glass vase full of flowers, before backing away from the threat.
The grounded man eventually managed to smash through the display case, reaching inside to take something out and place it in a bag. Then the thieves ran away, passing near a dumbfounded old man who had to sit on a bench during these events.
Jos Stassen, a visitor, had come on Tuesday hoping to admire works of art in peace.
“Normally it’s very calm (…) and serene, but suddenly I heard a lot of noise, I turned and suddenly I saw these men,” he told the public channel. OUR. “One started banging (on the window) and the others were keeping people away, scaring everyone. I also saw a gun. It happened very quickly and it lasted a very short time. time, but I’m still shaking a little”.
The phrase “Peaky Blinders” went viral on Dutch social media, because the caps worn by the thieves resembled those of the eponymous British crime gang, made famous by a series of the same name.
TEFAF presents hundreds of works, including a 17th century painting by a great Dutch master, displayed at one million euros.
This is not the first time that she has been targeted by criminals.
In 2011, a diamond and a diamond-encrusted necklace worth 860,000 euros were stolen, again from a jeweler from London.