Seven held over $72 mn Amsterdam diamond heist from 2005

THE HAGUE: Seven people have been arrested over the robbery of $72 million (67 million euros) in jewellery, one the world’s biggest ever heists, from Amsterdam’s airport nearly 12 years ago, authorities said Saturday.

The diamonds and jewellery were taken during the hold up of a KLM armoured car in a high-security portion of Schiphol airport in February 2005, police said in a statement.

Though the thieves were armed, no one was hurt in the heist.

Police “carried out, on Friday January 20 and Saturday January 21, 2017, a total of seven arrests in connection with the diamond theft at Schiphol airport in February 2005 and money laundering,” the statement said.

The five male and two female suspects, all Dutch nationals, were arrested in Amsterdam and Valencia, in eastern Spain.

While some of the stolen diamonds were found in an escape vehicle immediately after the heist, the rest — valued at $43 million — remain unaccounted for.

Four people had been arrested soon after the incident, one of the Netherlands’ worst cases of theft.