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CASH DEPOT ROBBERY

HELICOPTER

Two more held as police look for second pilot

Prosecutors on Thursday requested remand hearings for two more men suspected of involvement in the dramatic helicopter robbery of a cash depot south of Stockholm. At the same time, police now suspect a second pilot may have been involved in the heist.

Two more held as police look for second pilot

The two men, aged 23 and 31, were arrested earlier this week in separate incidents, with remand hearings expected to take place on Friday afternoon in the Södertörn district court.

The younger of the two suspects has previously been convicted of serious fraud, while the 31-year-old has been found guilty of serious drugs crimes.

They are the seventh and eighth suspects to be held on suspicions of having a role in the September 23rd robbery of the G4S cash depot in Västberga south of Stockholm.

Three other men questioned in the case have been released, but remain suspected of involvement in the robbery.

Meanwhile, police sources tell the TT news agency that the 34-year-old helicopter pilot currently being detained on suspicions of flying the helicopter during the heist may not have actually been at the controls at the time the actual robbery took place.

Instead, police now believe his involvement was limited to having stolen the helicopter used in the crime from the heliport in Mellingeholm near Norrtälje, north of Stockholm.

Not only was the 34-year-old familiar with the area, but he had also trained at the Mellingeholm airfield in order to receive his pilot’s licence. In addition, he had also rented the helicopter in question on several occasions for his own recreational flying.

After stealing the chopper early that September morning, the 34-year-old is thought to have flown to the Stora Skuggan area of northern Djurgården, on the outskirts of downtown Stockholm.

From there, police believe, another pilot took over and flew the helicopter to the cash depot, where several men rappelled down onto the roof and made their way into the building by smashing a skylight.

The 34-year-old pilot then gave himself an alibi by getting into a car accident in the nearby Frihamnen neighbourhood at the same time the robbers were looting the cash depot.

The other driver in the allegedly staged wreck is a known “troublemaker”, according to TT’s source.

The source added that one of the first men remanded into custody for the helicopter robbery had made a number of telephone calls to a 41-year-old man, currently residing in Serbia, who was previously known as Stockholm’s ‘gangster king’.

The telephone calls were monitored by police and make up a significant portion of the evidence in the case.

Among other things, the conversations included discussion of how those involved in the robbery were highly irritated at the pilot for being too “blabby”.

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MUSEUM

German police arrest fugitive twin over Dresden museum heist

German police said Tuesday they have arrested one of two fugitive twin brothers from the so-called Remmo clan wanted over their suspected role in snatching priceless jewels from a museum in the city of Dresden.

German police arrest fugitive twin over Dresden museum heist
Archive photo from April 2019 shows the Jewellery Room of the Green Vault. Photo: DPA

The 21-year-old suspect was detained in Berlin on Monday evening over what local media have dubbed one of the biggest museum heists in modern history, a spokesman for the police in the eastern city of Dresden said.

The twins had eluded German authorities when they carried out raids last month and arrested three members of the Remmo clan, a family of Arab origin notorious for its ties to organised crime.

Police then named them as 21-year-old Abdul Majed Remmo and Mohammed Remmo.

All five suspects are accused of “serious gang robbery and two counts of arson,” Dresden prosecutors said.

Police did not immediately name the arrested twin. His brother remains on the run.

The robbers launched their brazen raid lasting eight minutes on the Green Vault museum in Dresden's Royal Palace on November 25th, 2019.

READ ALSO: Everything you need to know about the Dresden museum heist

Having caused a partial power cut and broken in through a window, they snatched priceless 18th-century jewellery and other valuables from the collection of the Saxon ruler August the Strong.

Items stolen included a sword whose hilt is encrusted with nine large and 770 smaller diamonds, and a shoulderpiece which contains the famous 49-carat Dresden white diamond, Dresden's Royal Palace said.

The Remmos were previously implicated in another stunning museum robbery in the heart of Berlin in which a 100-kilogramme gold coin was stolen.

Investigators last year targeted the family with the seizure of 77 properties worth a total of €9.3 million, charging that they were purchased with the proceeds of various crimes, including a 2014 bank robbery.

READ ALSO: €1 million gold coin stolen from iconic Berlin museum

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