What do you think of this fact?
A vault beneath one of the best-guarded buildings in the world. A gang that plans for years. And a sandwich that ruins everything. The Antwerp diamond heist has everything a heist movie needs, except a happy ending for the thieves.
A weekend in the vault
Over the weekend of February 15 to 16, 2003, a gang broke into the vault of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre in Belgium. According to Guinness World Records, the vault had 10 layers of security. The planning took four years.
The ringleader, Leonardo Notarbartolo, had rented offices in the building and posed as a diamond merchant. That way, the gang learned the routines, the layout and the alarm systems. Using copied keys, they got into the high-security vault and emptied 123 of 160 safe-deposit boxes.
The loot: diamonds, gems and jewelry worth more than 100 million dollars. The largest diamond heist Guinness has ever recorded.
The roadside slip-up
The thieves were smart enough to take the security camera footage with them. Less smart: during their getaway, they dumped the footage and other trash by the side of the road. That included a half-eaten sandwich.
It had Notarbartolo’s DNA on it. Together with the other evidence, that was enough to convict him. He got ten years in prison.
Bonus fact: The diamonds themselves were never found. Where the more than 100 million dollars in loot ended up, nobody but the thieves knows.
Notarbartolo was later released on parole. The stones stayed missing.
A perfect plan, four years of prep, ten layers of security beaten. And then lunch.