After 15 years, thieves who stole jewelry in France are found in Serbia

Belfort's work had all the identifying marks of an operation “Panther Pink”, used by an international jewelry thief network of Serbs and Montenegrins responsible for some of the most courageous robberies of the past two decades.

Between 1999 and 2015, these criminals are thought to have committed at least 380 armed robberies, targeting high jewelry stores and kidnapping 334m euros worth, Interpol says.

One morning in September 2003, a group of masked men moved to a jewelry store in Belfort, a town in eastern France, just 15 miles [25 km] from the Swiss border.

One pulled a gun, while the others broke the glass steps, robbing 350,000 euros of jewelry and looking before they all left in a minute.

Police later managed to arrest their Serbian fences, one of which had a stolen surveillance on the hand.

But the thieves themselves were never caught.

They weren't even identified until 2013, after progress in a forensic investigation into blood tracks in one of the glass cabinets, a closet and a Cartier box.

Analysis DNA, they identified two Serbian citizens who were unknown in France, but wanted in Austria: “Zica” and “Boka”, both of them 41.

And by analyzing their phone records, they also found two suspects for involvement in the robbery: “Sasa”, 37, and “Luke”, 48.

All four thieves come from Uzice, a once prosperous industrial city about 150 miles (90 km) southwest of Belgrade, which has since fallen into difficult times.

“The majority of these criminals originate from Nis, Cacak and Uzice”, town prosecutor Ljubisa Dragashevic said of AFP, explaining that many in this Western region end up turning to crime because of problems that end up.

But there is also the criminal “within society, tough guys”, he said.

“in such circles, these activities abroad are issues of prestige ... they see themselves as protecting the poor Serb victims of the West”, the prosecutor said.

Although identified, the four remain at risk for the French justice system because Serbia does not extradite its citizens.

Over the past decade, France and Serbia developed close judicial ties following the murder of a French football fan in Belgrade in 2009, prompting a French judge to demand that all four be called for a hearing before a Serbian prosecutor.