DUBAI // With the fourth member of the so-called Pink Panther gang responsible for a US$15 million (Dh54m) jewellery heist now behind bars in Dubai, the emirate’s police are working on extraditing two other men from prisons in Europe as well as arresting three people still at large in Serbia.
Serbian Ilincic Borko, 34, who was extradited to the UAE last week, was third in command of the gang that in April 2007 smashed through the glass doors at Wafi Mall using two cars. Three men used hammers to break a glass display cabinet and gain entry to the Graff shop before gathering up the jewels in sacks. Less than a minute later they sped off with their haul.
Dubai Police chief Maj Gen Khamis Al Muzainah said Borko was first arrested in Monaco after being involved in a traffic accident. He was transferred to Switzerland, then deported to his home country before he was captured again in Spain last year.
“Dubai Police are working to extradite two men serving prison sentences in Liechtenstein and three individuals, two men and a women, who are believed to be in Serbia,” Gen Al Muzainah said. The robbers “smashed into the glass doors while driving in reverse so that the air bags in the car wouldn’t pop out from the impact”, he said.
Dubai Police released video footage of the robbery captured by CCTV from inside the jewellery shop, which includes images of the suspects.
Two men were arrested within weeks of the robbery. Serbian Nicola Milat, 41, who lived in an apartment in Al Refaa, was sentenced to 10 years in jail in Dubai for aiding and abetting the gang. He was released in 2013, while his compatriot Milan Mitlic, 52, was found not guilty on a charge of possession of stolen goods and was released.
Dragan Djor, 38, also from Serbia, was extradited from the Netherlands in 2009.
The men Dubai Police are hoping to extradite from Liechtenstein are Serbian Ljepoja Milan, 38, believed to be the gang’s leader and serving a nine-year prison term, and Bosnian Poznan Duzko, 40, serving an eight-year jail sentence.
The Pink Panther group carried out raids “in 90 countries and carried out 120 thefts”, Gen Al Muzainah said.
The gang’s first heist was in London’s upmarket Mayfair neighbourhood in 2003 followed by raids in Paris, Geneva and Tokyo. Of the gang’s estimated 300 members, most are thought to be from countries formed by the break-up of Yugoslavia, and include former members of the military.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
