Two days after the spectacular robbery at the exclusive Tefaf art fair, there is still no trace of the perpetrators. The search is in full swing, said the police in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The perpetrators stole jewels – probably worth millions.
Investigators assume that professional thieves are behind the robbery. They were obviously headed for the British jeweler’s stand and his precious pieces.
The brutal attack in broad daylight also shocked the employees of the fair, said the general director of Tefaf, Bart Drenth, the German Press Agency in Maastricht. “It’s a unique incident, we’ve never been through anything like it,” he said. In the meantime, security measures have been tightened. Tefaf, which ends on Thursday, is the most important fair for ancient art and is also considered one of the most exclusive fairs in the world.
Four armed men appeared in the hall on Tuesday. A visitor filmed the scene. Two men pounded glass cases at the jeweler’s with a large sledgehammer. The other two held bystanders at bay with guns. The men, masked with beards and glasses, wore jackets and peaked caps. After half a minute they ran away.
How they managed to smuggle the guns and the big hammer through the controls is a mystery. “Maybe they had them hidden under their jackets,” said the principal. “It was obviously very well prepared.” Nothing has been announced about the loot so far. Media reports that the men stole a valuable necklace worth around 27 million euros.
