Diamond | Asia

Alleged India jewellery show thieves in custody

Four members of a gang that allegedly stole diamonds worth around $1 million from the India International Jewellery Show in Mumbai on Monday have been remanded to police custody for 10 days in Mumbai.

Investigation of the theft, which saw the gang attempt to flee on a flight to Hamburg via Dubai, shows that there was a fifth member who has not been apprehended.
 
The group of three Mexicans and one Venezuelan were arrested at Dubai airport in connection with the theft of 889 carats of diamonds from the Dalumi Diamonds booth. The four managed to flee the country, but were detained at Dubai airport after Mumbai police contacted international police body Interpol.
 
The gang is suspected of having committed similar crimes elsewhere, with some foreign companies approaching the Mumbai Crime Branch for help with looking into similar heists involving their companies, according to India's The Hindu newspaper. The police are also investigating whether the gang was involved in a theft in Bangalore last March.
 
Mumbai police recovered 245 diamonds from the gang, while the rest of the 1,641 diamonds were retrieved from a shipment sent on by the alleged fifth gang member, Perez Hender Valmore, from Venezuela.
 
Before boarding a flight out of Mumbai, Perez hid 1,641 diamonds in his jacket and couriered it along with other personal belongings to Rome. However, after Mumbai police issued an international alert, the shipment was intercepted and the contents checked. The diamonds were recovered from Perez's jacket.