18 suspects acquitted in diamond heist case

BRUSSELS — Five years after a brazen multimillion-dollar diamond heist on the tarmac of Brussels Airport, a Belgian court on Thursday cited a lack of evidence as it acquitted 18 suspects in the case.

The massive 2013 theft, in which tens of millions worth of gems were stolen from the hold of a departing Swissbound plane, had all the hallmarks of an “Ocean’s Eleven” operation. And it still might still get a Hollywood ending. One other person, suspected of being the mastermind, will hear his case in court later.

“It is a great result,” said defense lawyer Nathalie Gallant. “The tribunal is indirectly saying that we were right and that the case is not sufficient to condemn anyone.”

Dimitri de Beco, the lawyer for the lone other suspect, said he was “pretty sure the same will apply to my client as well,” arguing the case was not strong enough.

It was not a full victory yet since Thursday’s decision can still be appealed.

The diamond heist was estimated at $50 million at the time and was one of the biggest of recent times.

In the Feb. 18, 2013 heist, several parcels of diamonds were driven from the global diamond center of Antwerp and had been loaded on a plane bound for Zurich when robbers, dressed in dark police clothing and hoods, drove through a hole they had cut in the airport fence in two black cars with blue police lights flashing.

They approached the plane, brandished machine guns, off-loaded the diamonds and then left, all in barely five minutes. Later that night, investigators found the charred remains of a van used in the heist.