Video After The Jump
German police were working furiously Tuesday morning to track down the bandits behind one of the biggest, most brazen jewel heists of all time. Surveillance video released by the police shows two thieves breaking into the 500-year-old Dresden Castle and making off with 18th century treasure from its famous Green Vault room.
One report has suggested the stolen items could be worth more than $1 billion, but the director of Dresden's state art collections, Marion Ackermann, said the real value of the jewels to Germany was "immeasurable."
CBS News Roxana Saberi reports that, in addition to the surveillance video, German police also released images of the exquisite items that were stolen, many of them encrusted with diamonds, rubies and sapphires and other jewels. One of the pilfered objects is a sword with a hilt adorned by nine large diamonds and 770 smaller ones.
Details of the stolen items could be entered into a database of stolen artifacts in the hopes they can raise the alarm of suspicious buyers, Radcliffe said, but if the criminals find it too difficult to monetize them, there is a chance they could simply abandon them.
“The Swedish crown jewels, which were stolen several years ago, were recovered when they were left in a bin, so sometimes the thieves find that these are too hot to hold.”
Meanwhile, Marinello said it’s paramount for law enforcement to act fast if there is to be any hope of recovering the artifacts in their original form.
“There is no time to lose,” he said.
The police also need to make it known that they want these pieces returned intact and if they are broken up, the penalties will be more severe, Marinello added.
German investigators, who are still analyzing the crime scene, told NBC News on Tuesday the suspects are still on the run. They didn't detail their next steps, but did say that a burned-out car found two and a half miles away from the museum was tied to the break-in.
“If they are going to issue a reward for information, it should come now before the gold is melted down and stones and diamonds are removed. This needs to be treated like a hostage situation,” Marinello said.
Source: CBS
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