File photo of Helvetic Airways aircraft from which the diamonds were stolen
Police have detained 31 people over the heist of $50million in diamonds in February - one of the biggest jewellery robberies inhistory - after coordinated raids in Belgium, France and Switzerland, Belgianprosecutors said on Wednesday.
More than 300 police were involved in the Belgianoperations, near Brussels, which led to 24 people being detained, a spokesmanfor the Brussels prosecutor said. One suspect was held in France and the restin Switzerland.
Robbers dressed as police and armed with machine guns stole120 parcels of diamonds from the runway of Brussels airport without firing ashot. The suspect detained in France was believed to be a member of the gang ofeight who carried out the heist.
"It's the only person that we can say at this stagethey could have participated in the events on the tarmac," said Jean-MarcMeilleur, the prosecutor's spokesman.
Police in Geneva said they had questioned eight people afterraids there and had subsequently released six of them, leaving two underinvestigation. Those figures differed slightly from the details provided byBelgian authorities.
Among those seized in Geneva were a businessman and alawyer, while around 100,000 Swiss Francs in cash and a number of diamonds wererecovered, the police there said. In Belgium, the raids recovered cash andluxury cars, the prosecutor's spokesman said.
© Thomson Reuters 2013