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Police divers search Berlin canal for Green Vault heist evidence

Dec 26, 2022

Dresden [Germany], December 26: Police divers searched a stretch of canal in Berlin on Sunday for evidence relating to the 2019 heist of dozens of priceless jewels from the Green Vault Museum in Dresden in the east of the country.
Around 20 police divers from around the country were probing a 150-metre stretch of the Schifffahrts Canal in south-eastern Berlin the under the direction of the Dresden police.
"The measures will take some time," the Dresden police said without providing further details.
Some three years after the Green Vault was broken into, a large part of the haul turned up earlier this month, with 31 items located in Berlin and returned to Dresden, where they are currently being investigated.
The find of the missing treasure is apparently the result of a deal between one of the defendants in a current court case and prosecutors that was approved by the court.
On November 25, 2019, two thieves broke into the Green Vault in Dresden Castle via a window and smashed a display case with an axe before making off with treasures dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries.
Around 4,300 diamonds and other precious stones were stolen. Their value has been put at ?113 million ($120 million), but they are seen by the museum as priceless. The damage caused in the break-in has been put at more than ?1 million.
Six men are currently on trial for the theft and for arson relating to a fire started at an electricity transmission station that disabled streetlights and security alarms.
Source: Qatar Tribune