French police made 16 arrests Monday over the armed robbery in Paris of US reality TV star Kim Kardashian when masked gunmen stole at least nine million euros ($9.5 million) worth of jewelery.
The biggest French jewellery heist ever occurred in July 2013, when robbers attacked an exhibition of "Extraordinary Diamonds" at the Carlton hotel in Cannes and made off with an estimated 103 million euros in jewels.
Here are the top five other jewelry thefts from individuals:
1. Highway robbery
On July 4, 1993, cash and jewelry worth an estimated 8.5 million euros in today's currency was stolen from MGM shareholder Marvin Davis and his wife on a road near Antibes, on the French Riviera.
Four gunmen blocked their limousine and escaped with a briefcase the US couple had with them.
2. Airport ambush
Two Qatari sisters were held up near a Paris airport and robbed of valuables worth more than five million euros on Nov. 21, 2016.
The women, in their 60s, had just left Le Bourget airport northeast of the capital when two masked men held up their chauffeur-driven Bentley and sprayed them with tear gas.
The robbers helped themselves to the women's jewels, clothes and luggage.
3. Bag grab
On Feb. 15, 2010, a thief stole a handbag with 4.5 million euros in jewels from the daughter of the mayor of Kiev while she was arriving in Paris.
Christina Chernovetska was travelling from Charles De Gaulle airport in a chauffeur-driven car when a man approached the vehicle and grabbed the bag in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.
4. Chanel heist
On April 15, 2015, three thieves made off with a handbag containing four million euros worth of Chanel jewels in a smash-and-grab attack on a taxi between Paris and Charles De Gaulle airport.
The victim was a Taiwanese art collector and the theft took place in the Landy tunnel, which stretches 1.3 kilometers and is notorious for robberies of tourists stuck in traffic.
5. Saudis robbed
On August 20, 1996, robbers attacked three Saudis on a road near Antibes, on the Riviera coast, making off with jewelry worth the equivalent of three million euros.
Agence France-Presse
(brl/red)
