Brussels airport heist nets USD 50-mn diamond haul

Brussels, Feb 19 (AFP) Heavily armed robbers disguised as police made off with USD 50 million worth of diamonds in a spectacular heist on the tarmac at Brussels airport, prosecutors and diamond dealers said today. Yesterday night robbery at Zaventem airport just before 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) was "one of the biggest" ever, said a spokeswoman for the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), the global dealers' syndicate. The Brussels raid saw a gang of eight hooded thieves pull up on the runway in two black vehicles with blue police-like markings, Brussels prosecutors' spokeswoman Anja Bijnens told a press conference. They forced their way through security barriers and sped towards a Swiss passenger aircraft about to take off, forcing open the cargo hold to reach gems -- rough and cut -- that had already been loaded, she said. Bijnens said the thieves were wearing police uniforms and carrying machine guns, adding: "They wanted to pass themselves off as cops." They seized at least 120 packages, which was only part of the shipment, she said. The pilot, co-pilot and staff from a Brink's armoured car that transported the gems were held up but "no shots were fired and no-one was injured," Bijnens said of a robbery that was over "within minutes." She said the thieves made off at high speed through the same gap in the security cordon they had opened in front of unsuspecting ground staff and travellers, adding that the passengers on board the plane "saw nothing" and that the aircraft, bound for Zurich, did not leave Brussels. The Swiss air company said the flight was a regular route operated by its partner Helvetic Airways. According to the AWDC, the global diamond business is worth more than USD 60 billion each year. Some USD 200 million worth of stones move in and out of Antwerp every day, the spokeswoman added. The diamond community was "shocked by the brutal heist," said Caroline De Wolf of the AWDC in a subsequent statement. She said traders want "additional security measures" implemented at the airport. (AFP) PY 02192234 NNNN