Pink Panthers

Police in Athens have said they have identified five members of a Pink Panthers-style international criminal gang as the culprits in an armed robbery of an Athens jewelry shop in December, in which 24 luxury watches worth €135,000 were stolen.

Cyprus police have in their custody a member of the Pink Panthers, the infamous gang of well-dressed jewel thieves that have been staging spectacular heists for decades around the world.

The raid on Kim Kardashian’s apartment has all the hallmarks of the Pink Panthers, a gang of super-criminals who have got away with tens of millions of pounds in jewels in high-profile heists since 1984. The gang, whose members mostly hail from Serbia and Montenegro, have stolen more than 280 million pounds.

Senior police investigators from Europe, Japan and the United Arab Emirates gathered in Budva, Montenegro, on Wednesday to share information about ongoing investigations into the so-called "Pink Panther" robberies around the world.

The meeting is part of an Interpol operation against the gang, most of whose members come from the former Yugoslavia.