Albania Arrests Thieving Santa Clauses

Albanian police said they had arrested two members of a gang who robbed a jewel store in a Tirana mall at the height of the Christmas season last year dressed as Santa Clauses.

The robbers entered the mall dancing and singing, with their guns hidden, but once inside the store they took the weapons out and pointed them at the shopkeeper.

An amateur video broadcast by Albania's Top Channel TV after the theft showed three men wearing snow-white beards and red Santa costumes exiting the store, armed with automatic rifles and large duffel bags.

"The jeweller first resisted but one of men hit her in the head with what appeared to be butt of a Kalashnikov rifle, before they made their way out with the loot," an eyewitness told Albanian daily Panorama.

According to the police, the gang of seven stands accused of nine armed robberies in Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo during 2013 and 2014.

One member of gang was killed during an attempted robbery in the town of Debar, in Macedonia, [Dibra in Albanian] in July.