BRUSSELS — Unlike the brilliant thieves in “Ocean’s Eleven,” it appears that those behind the clockwork-precision, $50 million diamond heist at Brussels Airport might not get a Hollywood ending.
Authorities detained at least 31 people this week in a three-nation sweep and recovering so many diamonds from the loot Antwerp traders lost that they are still figuring out the exact value.
Officials said that among the people held in Belgium, France and Switzerland on Tuesday and Wednesday are some with violent criminal pasts. A person held in France is thought to have been one of the robbers at the airport. The evidence seized includes large sums of cash, precious stones and luxury cars.
“It was a total surprise for us,” said Caroline De Wolf of the Antwerp World Diamond Center, whose traders lost millions in the Feb. 18 heist. “But we were delighted when we heard.”
