Some producer out there needs to get started on this as a movie idea right away.
According to the Atlantic Wire, members of the famed international jewel thief ring, the Pink Panther Gang, have staged a daring jailbreak of a Swiss prison to free members of the gang. Prison officials say it was more than a simple jailbreak. It was an all-out armed invasion that overwhelmed prison staff and led to the escape of the targeted inmates. Prison official say they have no idea even which direction the escapees went.
Gang member Milan Poperic was serving a sentence of six years and eight months for robbing a jewelry store in 2009. In the middle of the day, while inmates were exercising in the prison are, gang members crashed two vans through the barbed wire prison gates, into the yard. They fired AK-47’s, pinning down unarmed prison guards and private security contractors only armed with handguns. They then set fire to one of the vans to keep the prison guards busy and made their escape with Poperic and another inmate friend of his.
Back in May of this year, Pink Panther Gang members helped two other fellow gang members escape from another prison.
The group is known for its daring theatrics. It got its colorful name from the Pink Panther comedy film, in which some jewels are stolen by submerging them in a jar of beauty cream. These real-life jewel thieves used the same tactic, earning them the nickname from law enforcement. It isn’t know if the group themselves have adopted the name. It is believed that the group consists of about 40 members.
The Pink Panther gang has allegedly stolen around $396 million worth of jewels in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America since 1999.