Brussels, Belgium — On January 31, 2018, the trial of 19 subjects believed to be involved in a $50 million robbery at an airport in 2013 commenced.
In February, 2013, a group of armed men impersonated police officers and seized gems from a passenger plane. The subjects wore hoods and were armed with machine guns. They pulled up in a car on the runway at Brussels’ Zaventem Airport. An armored vehicle had unloaded diamonds into a plane about to depart for Zurich.
The subjects forced open the planes hold and removed 120 boxes of diamonds before fleeing with $50 million in gems. Most of the gems were never recovered.
The main subject, identified as Marc Bertoldi, is currently being held in France.
An accused robber covering himself leaving court