Diamond robbery suspect detained in Morocco

Authorities in Morocco have reported the arrest of four men wanted in connection with a number of armed robberies, including the diamond robbery that took place at Brussels Airport in February of last year.

The four are wanted for “attempted murder, armed robbery at goods transport warehouses, a major jewel theft at a European airport and an armed attack on a Belgian hospital with the intention of helping a prisoner escape,” the Moroccan press release says.

The robbery at Zaventem took place on February 18 last year, when eight armed and masked men in police uniforms attacked a Swiss airlines flight. The men in two cars gained access to the airport tarmac through an adjoining construction site. Without firing a shot, the men robbed the aircraft of a load of diamonds and other valuables worth an estimated €38 million. That shipment was under the security of Brink’s.

According to the Halle-Vilvoorde prosecutor’s office, charged with the investigation of the robbery, one of the men named is indeed wanted for questioning in connection with the case. Thirty-one suspects have already been arrested since the robbery took place, and four remain in custody.

The Dutch press has made a connection between the airport robbery and a robbery of security company Brink’s in Best, a town to the north of Eindhoven, in March last year, as well as earlier robberies from Brink’s in Amsterdam in 2011 and Schiphol in 2005.