£13 MILLION STOLEN AT CARTIER'S CANNES BOUTIQUE

A MAN WITH A DEEP TROPICAL TAN AND WEARING A HAWAIIAN-STYLE FLOWERY SHIRT CALMLY WALKED INTO THE CARTIER BOUTIQUE IN CANNES AND THREATENED STAFF WITH A GUN. TWO ACCOMPLICES WEARING CRASH HELMETS THEN ENTERED THE STORE, WHICH IS NEAR THE CARLTON HOTEL A POPULAR DESTINATION WITH HOLLYWOOD CELEBRITIES DURING THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL. THE RAIDERS TOOK JEWELS FROM SEVERAL DISPLAY CASES BEFORE FLEEING ALONG CANNES' FAMOUS CROISETTE PROMENADE ON SCOOTERS AFTER THE RAID MONDAY AFTERNOON. POLICE SAID THE TOTAL VALUE OF THE STOLEN JEWELS COULD BE AS HIGH AS £13 MILLION WITH SOME SINGLE ITEMS WORTH £1 MILLION EACH, AND THEY WERE INVESTIGATING WHETHER THE MEN COULD BE PART OF THE NOTORIOUS 'PINK PANTHER GANG', WHICH HAS CARRIED OUT SEVERAL SPECTACULAR JEWELERY THEFTS ACROSS EUROPE IN RECENT MONTHS. "THEY WERE VERY FAST, AND SPOKE AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE. THIS WAS THE WORK OF TRUE PROFESSIONALS", SAID A SOURCE CLOSE TO THE INVESTIGATION.
THREE SUSPECTED MEMBERS OF THE GANG, THOUGHT TO BE BASED IN EASTERN EUROPE, WERE ARRESTED IN MONACO LAST MONTH. TOP JEWELERS AND POLICE ACROSS THE WORLD ARE HUNTING THE PANTHERS, A SOPHISTICATED INTERNATIONAL CRIME SYNDICATE THAT HAS REAPED OVER £100 MILLION IN JEWELERY HEISTS OVER THE PAST DECADE. THE GROUP EARNED THEIR NICKNAME AFTER STEALING A £500,000 DIAMOND FROM A MAYFAIR JEWELER IN 2003 AND HIDING IT IN A JAR OF FACE CREAM. THEY WERE INSPIRED APPARENTLY BY THE ORIGINAL 1963 PINK PANTHER FILM, STARRING PETER SELLERS AS INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU, IN WHICH THE WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE GEM WAS HIDDEN THE SAME WAY. ITS ATTENTION TO DETAILS THAT HAS LED ONE CRIMINOLOGIST TO DESCRIBE THEIR WORK AS 'ARTISTRY'. IN BIARRITZ, FOR EXAMPLE, THEY APPLIED FRESH PAINT TO A BENCH OPPOSITE THE JEWELRY STORE THEY WERE ABOUT TO ROB TO DETER POTENTIAL WITNESS FROM SITTING ON IT. IN 2005, THEY RAIDED A SAINT-TROPEZ JEWELRY BOUTIQUE DRESSED IN SIMILARLY FLOWERY SHIRTS BEFORE ESCAPING IN A SPEED BOAT.