Two detained after 'biggest robbery' at Barcelona airport

Madrid, Aug 4 (IANS) Members of the Catalan regional police force (Mossos d'Esquadra) arrested two men in Spain after a Russian family reported a robbery with value over 8 million euros.

On Thursday, the Mossos d'Esquadra confirmed that the robbery took place on Wednesday evening close to the city of Girona as the family of Russian tourists were waiting in the check-in area at Terminal 1 at Barcelona's El Prat airport, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to the police, the suspected thieves made off with a Louis Vuitton designer handbag containing a haul of jewelry and high-value watches belonging to the family, which in terms of value is thought to be the biggest robbery of its kind in Spain.

Among the items in the handbag were a golden ring weighing 47 carats, which is estimated worth over $5 million, and 20,000 euros in cash.

The family immediately notified the Mossos of the robbery and quickly identified the 41 and 54-year-old thieves after scanning footage from security cameras.

The police also discovered the type of car the thieves were travelling in, its registration and the direction it took upon leaving the airport.

That allowed the police to block their attempted escape, make the arrests and recover the bag and its contents within a couple of hours after the robbery.