Thieves in drag help themselves to €80m in jewels

ARMED robbers — some dressed in drag — made off with €80 million in loot from a lightning-fast jewellery store theft in central Paris, in what police yesterday called one of France’s costliest jewel heists.

Three or four thieves swiped rings, necklaces and luxury watches from display cases at the Harry Winston store near the Champs-Elysees, a police official said. They brandished handguns and threatened about 15 employees, hitting some on the head with guns, the official said.

At least two of the bandits were men wearing wigs and dressed as women, at times spoke a foreign language, and knew employees’ names, the official said.

The official said it was among France’s biggest-ever jewel thefts. New York-based Harry Winston said in a statement: “We are co-operating with the authorities in their investigation.”

A spokeswoman for the company would not provide further details on the theft. It was unclear whether anyone was injured.

The boutique, on the expensive Avenue Montaigne, was closed to the public yesterday. Three of the five display windows stood empty of their usual wares.

The store was targeted in a similar theft in October 2007, when three people forced employees to open safes and hand more than €10m worth of jewels.

A security monitoring group for the French jewellery industry has reported a 20% rise in armed robberies this year over last, with 132 incidents in the first 11 months of 2008.