Paris, France - French police face a long hard job tracking the authors of one of the world's biggest jewellery heists at a famed Paris store, sources close to the probe said on Saturday.
The source said witnesses could not even say in which direction the robbers escaped after Thursday's raid in which they stole diamonds and other valuables worth 85 million euros (S$162.9 million) in just 15 minutes.
A gang of four thieves - two of them disguised as women - stole nearly all the jewels on display at the Harry Winston boutique just off the Champs-Elysees avenue, which attracts a wealthy international clientele.
The robbers managed to elude the high-security surveillance system and burst into the boutique.
Brandishing weapons including pistols and a grenade, they herded the 16 people in the shop, including a woman customer and a supplier, into a corner.
One of the staff was hit but no shots were fired.
But the sources said it would be difficult to identify anyone because of the disguises they wore.
According to the police
Police said they were dealing with 'major pros' who had meticulously planned their crime and knew the boutique's lay-out well, suggesting it may have been an inside job.
They knew the names of some of the shop's employees and the location of some hidden storage cases for jewellery.
Believing they had staged a lengthy reconnaissance of the premises before the raid, police were on Saturday scrutinising film from security cameras within the shop and on the fashionable Avenue Montaigne outside.
But the sources said it would be difficult to identify anyone because of the disguises they wore.
Although the robbers spoke French it was with east European accents, they added, though they said the men could have been working for anyone, including French gang bosses.
Investigators have pointed out that the loot could be sold more easily in eastern Europe, describing the market there as a 'new El Dorado for traffickers' trying to get rid of high-end stolen goods.
Investigators were also re-examining the unsolved raid on the same shop in October last year in which jewels worth nearly 20 million euros were taken, to see if there were any possible links.
Friday's heist was the biggest in French history and one of the biggest in the world. Belgium holds the record since diamonds worth 100 million euros or more were stolen on Feb 14, 2003 in Antwerp.
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