I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t admire the beauty of a stunning gemstone or diamond set in beautifully crafted jewelry. With the allure of jewelry and its small size and high value, it’s tempting for criminals not to consider it. I know we’ve all heard of large jewelry heists on the news and in movies. Fortunately, with three decades in the jewelry industry, I’ve never experienced a robbery or stealing. Still, I must admit it’s always been in the back of the minds of management & executives over the years.
First-hand Situation
For instance, a large company I worked for was well prepared. There was no signage indicating the name of the company. We had three large buildings centered on several acres of gated work campus. The campus was surrounded by 10’ fencing topped with razor wire. No cars were allowed to enter until credentials were verified. Then, within the gated campus was a second gated area where deliveries and shipments were loaded. This area was never left unguarded, even during holidays. We were all aware of the possibility of thieves targeting armored trucks as they left our facility.
We would often break large shipments into several smaller shipments in a period of one or two weeks. We even sent empty armored trucks away as decoys. Our nerves were on edge in 2013 when an armored truck broke down just a few minutes after leaving our campus. It was only a mile away as we were alerted to the breakdown. The police were called to secure the area as a second truck was en route to transfer the goods from one truck to another. Of course, it’s easy to immediately believe it could be an inside job of the armored truck personnel. An armored truck is easily recognized, sometimes making it an easy target. A way around that issue is to ship products to our customers in unmarked packaging using standard delivery companies such as FedEx, UPS, and the USPS.
Museum of Anthropology Robbery
A massive heist on Christmas Eve of 1985 got lots of attention. It was breaking news as experts said it was one of the most prominent museum burglaries ever. Priceless turquoise, jade, and obsidian artifacts at a Mexico City Museum were stolen in the biggest heist ever of pre-Columbian relics. The artifacts were from the Mayan ruins of Palenque in southern Mexico. The theft was not discovered until the guards arrived at the museum on Christmas morning. The thieves had pried open glass cases and snuck away into the quiet of the night with the museum’s best-known artifacts. Officials estimate the value of the stolen goods at “many millions of dollars”. Experts at the time said it would be challenging to set a specific value since the artifacts were so unique.
The museum guards were interrogated, and it was determined none were involved. The thieves knew exactly what they were doing because many display cases were untouched, yet they emptied those with the most valuable artifacts. Many pieces have been illustrated in magazines and literature, including National Geographic. These relics were too famous and would be recognized if the thieves tried to sell them. No reputable dealer would dare consider buying these relics. It was determined that the thieves may have become scared and destroyed the relics to keep them from being caught. In 1989, a significant break was made, and two young thieves were caught. The story became so compelling that a movie named Museo was completed in 2018.
Brinks Truck Robberies
Another heist in August of 2022 took only 27 minutes for thieves to empty a Brinks truck in California. The thieves nabbed 70 plastic containers, each weighing 100 pounds, filled with diamonds, gemstones, and luxury watches. The total value is still a mystery, ranging from $10 million to $100 million.
Antwerp Diamond Heist
A burglary in Belgium in February of 2023 is known as the Antwerp diamond heist. It’s been dubbed the “heist of the century”. This was the largest diamond heist and one of the largest robberies in history.
I don’t know about you, but now I want to watch a good jewelry heist movie. Perhaps I’ll check out Museo.