Temis HBJO Armored Truck Diamond Heist Suspects Questioned April 2016

Summary: Fifteen-month investigations led to questioning 11 suspects April 2016 about the 2015 €9.2 million ($9.7 million) Temis HBJO armored truck diamond heist.

French police found two burned getaway vans connected with the March 2015 Avallon tollbooth diamond heisters in the countryside near Quenne, Yonne department, Bourgogne-Franch-Comté, north central France: WorldNews_net @worldnews_net, via Twitter March 11, 2015

Eleven of the suspected 15 Temis HBJO armored truck diamond heist perpetrators are being questioned, in Paris since April 9, 2016, about the Avallon tollbooth ambush in central-southeast France March 10-11, 2015.

The violent events of spring 2015 in the Yonne department of the Burgundy wine-growing region bring any of at least three criminal charges against apprehended perpetrators. The three criminal charges thus far consider association with "malfaiteurs" ("wrongdoers"), theft by an armed, organized group and violation of legislation concerning having and using firearms. Le Figaro online June 17, 2016, described one suspect as under "contrôle judiciaire" ("legal supervision") and the 10 others as under "détention provisoire" ("detention pending trial").

No information emerges from online news sources as to the whereabouts of four at-large perpetrators or of the extracted valuables estimated at €9.2 million ($9.7 million).

Paris Match online June 11, 2016, focused upon two of the 11 Temis HBJO armored truck diamond heist suspects called in for questioning April 9, 2016.

Temis HBJO gives secure transport to "Horlogerie, Bijouterie, Joaillerie, Orfèvrerie" ("Timepieces, Jewels, Gems, Tableware") and "objets d'art" ("art objects") from headquarters at 13 Place Vendôme, Paris. Unidentified sources for online news hinged harvesting an optimal heist upon 15 heisters having had inside help in honing optimum holdup dates, loads, locations and times. Online news indicated as more than coincidental the heisters identifying exactly where on the A6 armored trucks from Besançon and from Paris intersected for driver exchanges.

The two employees charged with criminal associations joined four suspects additionally charged with breaking firearm-regulating legislation and three additionally charged with robbery by an armed group.

The Jurisdiction Interrégionale Spécialisée ("Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction") and the Office de lutte contre le crime organisé ("Office for Fighting Organized Crime") kept charge of Paris-based investigations.

Le Parisien June 19, 2016, listed the 11 suspects living in the central-north departments of Aisne, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val d'Oise and the southern department of Bouches-du-Rhône. It mentioned that "Alex" made anabolic steroids and €350,000 ($396,130) available to Renald B., 40-year-old body-builder and Temis HBJO employee, for route, shipment and timing information. It noted only three of the 11 suspects netting armed robbery by an organized group charges: 47-year-old Jean-Charles P.; 49-year-old Belaïd S.; and 49-year-old Jean-Claude B.

The Parisien article observed that dress rehearsals occurred "quelques semaines" ("a few weeks") before the Avallon tollbooth ambush and the Temis HBJO armored truck diamond heist.

The Parisien article presented the perpetrators as pre-empting possible guardrail and service barrier problems by posing as broken-down vehicle passengers along planned escape routes from A6.

The breakdown qualified the perpetrators for assistance from, and security badge access for operating the service barrier near Saint-Cyr-les Colons of, an Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhône ("Paris-Rhine-Rhone Motorways"). Dress rehearsals resulted in an armed robbery of Cartier jewelry, "chutes d'or" ("gold chains") and 1,000 Hublot and Rolex luxury watches within minutes despite four drivers. The speedy, successful Avallon tollbooth ambush just before, and Temis HBJO armored truck diamond heist just after, midnight suggested expert thievery, inside information and staged practice.

Who took the Temis HBJO armored truck diamond heist gold, jewelry and watches from 15 suspected perpetrators, of whom 15-month investigations turned up 11 for questioning?

French police found the armored trucks which were ambushed March 2015 by Avallon tollbooth diamond heisters; heisters used a mechanical digger to cut open the roof for access to jewelled cargo: WTOP @WTOP, via Twitter March 11, 2015

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

French police found two burned vans connected with the March 2015 Avallon tollbooth diamond heist in the countryside near Quenne, Yonne department, Bourgogne-Franch-Comté, north central France: WorldNews_net @worldnews_net, via Twitter March 11, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/worldnews_net/status/575681394736820224

French police found two burned vans connected with the March 2015 Avallon tollbooth diamond heist in the countryside near Quenne, Yonne department, Bourgogne-Franch-Comté, north central France: WorldNews_net @worldnews_net, via Twitter March 11, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/worldnews_net/status/575681394736820224

For further information:

"Braquage à 9 millions d'euros sur l'A6: 11 suspects interpellés." Paris Match > Actu > Faits divers > 11/06/2016.
Available @ http://www.parismatch.com/Actu/Faits-divers/Braquage-a-9-millions-d-euros-sur-l-A6-11-suspects-interpelles-993451

"Braquage à 9 millions d'euros sur l'A6 en 2015: 11 suspects interpellés." Le Parisien > Faits divers > 11 juin 2016.
Available @ http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/braquage-a-9-millions-d-euros-sur-l-a6-en-2015-11-suspects-interpelles-11-06-2016-5874903.php

"Braquage de deux fourgons sur l'A6 en 2015: onze suspects interpellés dont deux écroués." Le Monde > Société > Police et Justice > 11/06/2016.
Available @ http://www.lemonde.fr/police-justice/article/2016/06/11/braquage-de-deux-fourgons-sur-l-a6-en-2015-onze-suspects-interpelles-dont-deux-ecroues_4948505_1653578.html

"Braquage sur l'A6: 11 suspects mis en examen." Le Figaro > Flash-Actu > 17/06/2016.
Available @ http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2016/06/17/97001-20160617FILWWW00153-braquage-sur-l-a6-en-2015-11-suspects-mis-en-examen.php

Brinai, Élisa; Blanzat, Bruno. 12 June 2016. "Arrestations un an après le braquage de fourgons blindés sur l'A6 à Avallon." France Bleu > Infos > Faits divers > Justice.
Available @ https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/faits-divers-justice/arrestations-un-apres-le-braquage-de-fourgons-blindes-sur-l-a6-avallon-1465723772

"Fourgons blindés braqués sur l'A6: onze suspects mis en examen." Le Parisien > Faits divers > 17 juin 2016.
Available @ http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/fourgons-blindes-braques-sur-l-a6-onze-suspects-mis-en-examen-17-06-2016-5893831.php

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 March 2018. "Avallon Tollbooth Ambush and Temis HBJO Armored Truck Diamond Heist." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/03/avallon-tollbooth-ambush-and-temis-hbjo.html

Sellami, Stéphane. 19 June 2016. "Fourgons blindés braqués sur l'A6: les coulisses d'un casse." Le Parisien > Faits divers.
Available @ http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/les-coulisses-d-un-casse-19-06-2016-5896847.php

"Spectaculaire braquage de l'A6: un an aprés, onze suspects interpellés." Europe 1 > Faits divers > le 10 juin 2016 modifié le 13 juin 2016.
Available @ http://www.europe1.fr/faits-divers/spectaculaire-braquage-de-la6-un-an-apres-onze-suspects-interpelles-2769088

Avallon Tollbooth Ambush and Temis HBJO Armored Truck Diamond Heist

Summary: Fifteen Avallon tollbooth and Temis HBJO armored truck diamond heist perpetrators had minutes to hide with multi-million euro hauls March 10-11, 2015.

French police found the armored trucks which were ambushed March 2015 by Avallon tollbooth diamond heisters; heisters used a mechanical digger to cut open the roof for access to jewelled cargo: WTOP @WTOP, via Twitter March 11, 2015

Fifteen men accomplished the Avallon tollbooth ambush outside Auxerre in the Burgundy wine-growing region of central-east France just before, and the Temis HBJO armored truck diamond heist after, midnight March 10, 2015.

The Avallon tollbooth in the Yonne department brought two sets of drivers in two Temis HBJO armored trucks a brief break from A6 national highway traffic. Fifteen men in dark clothes and ski masks and with automatic pistols and Kalachnikov-style rifles caught up with the armored truck drivers at the rest area. Cindy Bonnaud, Willem van de Kraats and Nicolas Ruiz for L'Yonne Républicaine March 11, 2015, described them as driving one Mercedes, two BMWs and two vans.

The Avallon tollbooth ambush ended within minutes of Temis HBJO armored truck diamond heist perpetrators exiting after extracting €9.2 million ($9.7 million) in jewels and timepieces.

Police found one motorist and four armored truck drivers "indemnes mais choquées" ("unharmed but in shock") and two burned, gutted trucks in Chablis vineyards outside Quenne.

Temis HBJO armored truck diamond heist perpetrators gashed a truck roof guarding "bijoux, diamants et objets d'art" ("jewels, diamonds and art objects") with a mechanical digger. Temis HBJO handles secure transport of "Horlogerie, Bijouterie, Joaillerie et Orfèvrerie" ("timepieces, jewels, precious stones and tableware") from company headquarters in Paris at 10 Place Vendôme. Sandrine Amiel and Laura Smith-Spark for Cable News Network March 11, 2015, indicated police identification of the mechanical digger in one of two otherwise emptied trucks.

Online news sources from the time judged the Avallon tollbooth ambush and Temis HBJO armored truck diamond heist perpetrators as "aguerris et professionels" ("battle-hardened and professional").

Eleanor Beardsley, with National Public Radio in Paris, knew of "heists by a group of jewel thieves from the Balkans known as the Pink Panther gang."

Beardsley linked the Pink Panther gang to "a series of jewel thefts that international police agency Interpol says have netted more than $350 million since 1999." Don Bilefsky for The New York Times March 11, 2015, made no mention of suspects when he mentioned Christophe Crépin as senior police official on investigations. Ambush, extraction and getaway needed a narrow time-frame between the drivers' departure from Paris March 10 and their shipment's delivery for sale in Besançon March 11.

Head-to-foot disguises and wrecked vehicles offered Avallon tollbooth ambush and Temis HBJO armored truck diamond heist perpetrators 4-plus-hour lead times over opportune, police-organized arrests and recoveries.

Online news sources from the time present plundered vehicles and punctured guardrails as prompting Yonne departmental police forces to pursue the perpetrators and their purloined haul.

Bonnaud, Ruiz and van de Kraats quoted unidentified police sources regarding the trucks' discovery outside Quenne "Peu avant 4 heures du matin" ("Just before 4 a.m."). They reconstructed the perpetrators rejoining A6's Paris-bound lanes outside Nitry and running a service barrier near Saint-Cyr-les Colons before rushing from Yonne, Burgundy, onto local roads. They stated that Avallon and Dijon share supervision of support from Auxerre and Paris police forces, criminal investigation-specialized institutes and large-scale banditry- and organized crime-fighting offices.

What told them how, when and where to take treasures for transport to Besançon so that "Les 15 braqueurs se sont volatilisés" ("The 15 thieves vanished")?

French police found two burned getaway vans connected with the March 2015 Avallon tollbooth diamond heisters in the countryside near Quenne, Yonne department, Bourgogne-Franch-Comté, north central France: WorldNews_net @worldnews_net, via Twitter March 11, 2015

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

French police found the armored trucks which were ambushed March 2015 by Avallon tollbooth diamond heisters; heisters used a mechanical digger to cut open the roof for access to jewelled cargo: WTOP @WTOP, via Twitter March 11, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/WTOP/status/575686402806960129

French police found two burned vans connected with the March 2015 Avallon tollbooth diamond heist in the countryside near Quenne, Yonne department, Bourgogne-Franch-Comté, north central France: WorldNews_net @worldnews_net, via Twitter March 11, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/worldnews_net/status/575681394736820224

For further information:

Amiel, Sandrine; and Smith-Spark, Laura. 11 March 2015. "France Jewel Heist: Robbers Target Security Vans in Brazen Raid." Cable News Network > Europe > France.
Available @ https://www.cnn.com/2015/03/11/europe/france-jewelry-heist/index.html

Bilefsky, Dan. 11 March 2015. "Armed Thieves in France Steal Jewels Worth Millions." The New York Times: World > Europe.
Available @ https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/12/world/europe/armed-thieves-take-millions-in-jewels-in-robbery-near-paris.html

Marking, Havana. 2012. Smash & Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers. London UK: Roast Beef Productions.

Plottu, Pierre. 13 March 2015. "Braquage de l'A6: Seules '5 ou 6 Équipes Sont Capables de Telles Actions en France', Assure un Spécialiste." FranceSoir > Société > Faits divers.
Available @ http://www.francesoir.fr/societe-faits-divers/braquage-de-la6-seules-5-ou-6-equipes-sont-capables-de-telles-actions-en-france

van de Kraats, Willem; Bonnaud, Cindy; and Ruiz, Nicolas. 11 March 2015. "Braquage de fourgons sur l'A6: 9 millions d'euros de préjudice [Mis à jour]." L'Yonne Républicaine > Loisirs.
Available @ https://www.lyonne.fr/avallon/loisirs/france/2015/03/11/braquage-de-fourgons-sur-l-a6-9-millions-d-euros-de-prejudice-mis-a-jour_11359218.html#refresh

"Vol de bijoux sur l'A6: le plus gros braquage de fourgon depuis Musulin." BFMTV > Police Justice > Faits divers > 12/03/2015.
Available @ http://www.bfmtv.com/societe/vol-de-bijoux-sur-l-a6-le-plus-gros-braquage-de-fourgon-depuis-musulin-868600.html

WorldNews_net @worldnews_net. 11 March 2015. "Gunmen stage jewel heist on French highway." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/worldnews_net/status/575681394736820224

WTOP @WTOP. 11 March 2015. "Gunmen stage jewel heist on French highway, trigger manhunt." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/WTOP/status/575686402806960129