Neftali Jimenez-Castro
Who are the so called Pink Panthers? They are believed to be the gang of thieves organized by Dragan Mike, a Serbian national. Yes, they were also named after the successful series of crime comedy films. The gang of thieves are made up of ex-Yugoslavs, citizens from Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, and are credited with many of the most bold thefts in criminal history for over the last two decades.
Interpol estimates about 60 people are in the gang and possibly even several hundred others involved in the network. The Panthers consist of some former soldiers with violent pasts; fluent in various languages and carrying passports from different countries. They are well known for their robberies of luxurious jewels worth millions. Past jewel robberies in Dubai, Switzerland, Japan, France, Liechtenstein, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Monaco are thought to be connected with the Pink Panthers. The group’s largest heist took place at the Harry Winston jewelry store in Paris in December 2008. The thieves took nearly $98 million in jewelry. With 340 robberies, the professional thieves have managed to perform feats right out of the movies: daring escapes, smashing car chases, and planning straight out of sophisticated detective novels.
Some of the gang members have been arrested and have served sentences of up to 10 years. Others have been able to escape prison. A few are are currently on the run. But most of them are still free and organized and seeking to commit more crimes. The robbery that took place in Paris this past week may prove to be the responsibility of the Pink Panthers. Although it is unclear at the moment who exactly robbed Kim Kardashian, it shows distinctive traits of the Panthers.
Pink Panthers’ member Novak once told a reporter: “There are no victims to what we do, we scare people but we do not hurt them. We only take expensive things from rich people.”
Kardashian claims she was handcuffed and held at gunpoint by men who appeared to be police officers. They then left her in her hotel bathroom and made off with nearly $11.2 million dollars worth of jewelry including her engagement ring.
