• In $ 1.6 million wine heist, duo caught after 9-month search: Report

    International
    In $ 1.6 million wine heist, duo caught after 9-month search: Report

    The "meticulously planned" crime allegedly got underway when the woman entered the hotel using a phoney Swiss ID, according to Spain's Police National. After dinner, the couple visited the property's famed wine cellar.

    Digital Desk: Detectives on the lookout for two
    "skilled thieves" who are suspected of stealing 45 bottles of wine
    valued at more than €1.6 million (£1.4 million) from a Spanish restaurant in
    October of last year have detained two individuals after a nine-month,
    international police investigation that ended in Croatia. A man and a woman reportedly were a couple staying at the Atrio hotel and restaurant in Cáceres,
    southwest Spain, and took many pricey bottles of French wine on October 27, 2021.



    Authorities claim that the robbery was skillfully planned
    and that the thieves had visited the restaurant three times before the incident.
    According to media reports, a police statement claimed that the suspects
    "displayed a high level of expertise, specialization, and immaculate
    planning."



    The "meticulously planned" crime allegedly got
    underway when the woman entered the hotel using a phoney Swiss ID, according to
    Spain's Police National. After dinner, the couple visited the property's famed
    wine cellar.



    After that, the man hurriedly exited their chamber and
    returned to the cellar, according to the police. He walked out with three large
    rucksacks, one on his back and two in each hand, one with the bottles he had
    hidden and the other two loaded with hotel towels to disguise the bottles. He had
    entered using a master key that had already been stolen.



    While the man was robbing the cellar, the woman
    distracted the workers by ordering dinner to be made even though the kitchen
    was locked.



    The missing bottles were discovered the following morning
    by staff, but the suspects had already departed the area by 5 a.m.



    Authorities were unable to locate the perpetrators
    because they departed Spain a short time after the crime and travelled via
    other European nations.



    However, officials apprehended them when they crossed the
    border into Croatia from Montenegro at the Karasovi Sutorina border crossing.



    The Spanish police commended the "great
    teamwork" between local and foreign investigators from organizations like
    Interpol.