The mastermind behind the biggest robbery in Dutch history, namely the theft of diamonds worth more than 70 million dollars from Schiphol airport in 2005, was arrested last Tuesday in Ibiza, as confirmed by Periódico de Ibiza y Formentera. According to the newspaper De Telegraaf, Errol H.V. (59) was sentenced to 9.5 years in prison for the spectacular theft of diamonds worth 70 million dollars, but he only served three years and disappeared.
According to the Dutch media, Errol H.V. had been on the island for some time and had been traced for months. At the moment, it is not clear when he will be extradited to the Netherlands.
The diamond robbery took place on 25 February 2005 during a raid by a group of armed people on an armoured KLM airline vehicle on a maximum security runway at Schiphol airport in the Netherlands.
Most of the haul of more than $70 million (67 million euros) in precious stones was never recovered.
Younger and thinner
After several kilometres of tracking, officers stopped the vehicle, cut it off with three vehicles, and proceeded to arrest him. The investigators noticed a major physical change in comparison to the photographs available to them. The arrestee had a much younger and thinner appearance, not ruling out the possibility that he had undergone some cosmetic retouching to change his appearance and not be easily recognised.
Once arrested, he was placed at the disposal of the Central Court of Instruction number 6 of the Audiencia Nacional.