Armed robbers - some dressed as women - escaped with more than £70million worth of jewellery in Paris in one of Europe's biggest ever heists.
As many as four masked men wielding sawn-off shotguns stormed into the exclusive Harry Winston jewellers in a high-speed raid described by detectives as 'terrifyingly efficient'.
While two robbers ordered petrified staff fill a sack with precious gems and watches from the window display cases, another marched the manager to the store's hidden safe.
Within minutes the gang had vanished - without a shot being fired - on powerful motorbikes parked close to the shop in the city's upmarket Avenue Montaigne, close to the Champs Elysees, yesterday evening.
Police said the meticulously prepared robbers knew all the store staff's names, which jewels were the most valuable, and the location of the shop's strong-box where the most precious items were kept.
At least three of the men were dressed as women. The raiders were also speaking a foreign language which police believe may have been Serbo-Croat or a a dialect of Russian.
The raid at 5.30pm on Thursday was the largest ever gems theft in French history and one of the most lucrative armed holds-ups ever in the world.
A spokesman for the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Paris said: ‘If, as seems likely, this figure is confirmed it will be the biggest robbery ever on mainland France, and certainly one of the biggest in criminal history.’
Designer watches were taken, along with the diamonds, pearls and gold necklaces.
The spokesman added: ‘We’re dealing with highly experienced professional criminals. They entered through the main door without drawing any attention from security guards. In less than twenty minutes, they were on the first floor, emptied the safes and the displays, before leaving through the front door.
‘They pointed guns at staff. At least three were dressed up as women.’
The spokesman confirmed that staff were hit with the butt of guns. They were ‘extremely shocked’ but there were no serious injuries.
The store was robbed in a similar fashion 14 months ago when thieves got away with jewellery worth £9 million. Harry Winston's insurance company offered a £370,000 reward for information leading to the return of jewels after the 2007 heist, but they were never returned. more
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