- A Russian family traveling through the Barcelona airport had a bag stolen at the check-in counter.
- The Hermès Birkin bag was encrusted in diamonds and gold and carried nearly 10M in jewelry and cash.
- Two thieves, identified by security footage, were arrested, and the valuables were returned.
Two travelers to the Barcelona airport carrying a fortune worth of jewelry and cash in a diamond-encrusted bag nearly left the country $9.3 million poorer after thieves snuck away with their luggage.
ABC News reported the pair were checking into an Emirates flight when two thieves nicked the Hermès Birkin bag and found a fortune inside.
The gold and diamond encrusted bag, which was sitting atop a Louis Vuitton suitcase when it was stolen according to aviation news outlet AeroTime, contained a 47-carat diamond ring worth $5 million, an $822,000 Chanel brooch, a Bvlgari watch worth about $990,000, plus diamond earrings valued at roughly half a million dollars, and $22,000 in cash in various currencies.
—Mossos (@mossos) August 4, 2023
The two thieves were identified and caught driving out of Barcelona thanks to security footage. The valuables were returned to their owners, according to a video posted to Twitter by Police Sub-Inspector Francesc Garcia of the Catalan Mossos D'esquadra.
The Catalan Mossos D'esquadra police did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
There have been a string of high-valued jewelry robberies in recent weeks, targeting travelers and retailers alike. CBS News reported a couple had $70,000 of jewelry stolen from their luggage at Boston Logan International Airport on July 26, and the BBC reported a trio of well-dressed thieves used an elaborate plan to snag $10 million worth of jewelry from a Paris boutique on July 29.