Around $USD100 million ($AUD154 million) in goods was stolen from a Brinks armoured car in July 2022, with 24 bags of jewellery stolen from the vehicle while it was parked on the way to a trade show.
Seven people have been charged with conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipment. According to the Department of Justice, some of the stolen jewellery was recovered during a search on 16 June.
A statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California described the allegations.
“According to the indictment, on the evening of July 10, 2022, [some of the accused] scouted a Brinks semitruck leaving an international jewellery show in San Mateo, California, with 73 bags containing millions of dollars of jewellery,” the statement explains.
“From the evening of July 10 to the morning of July 11, [they] and other co-conspirators followed the Brinks truck approximately 300 miles from that jewellery show in San Mateo to rest stops in Buttonwillow and Lebec, north of Los Angeles.
“While the truck was stopped in Lebec, those defendants stole 24 bags from the Brinks truck containing approximately $100 million of jewellery. In the following days, all deactivated their cellphone numbers that they had been using during the heist.”
As reported by JCK Online, two of the suspects are already in custody, while a third is currently serving a prison sentence for burglary in Arizona.
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