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Monte Carlo cops quiz Leeds jewel raid gangster
Detectives from Monte Carlo were in Leeds today questioning a member of a gang which stole jewellery worth millions of pounds in raids across Europe.
Capt Cedric Quessada and Lt Denis Gambarini flew in to interview Sander Sarik, 19, about a 75,000 Euro armed robbery on a Monte Carlo jewellers, two weeks after he was jailed for 11 years at Leeds Crown Court.
Sarik was part of an Estonian gang which has raided 150 jewellers across Europe. The hunt for them has been led in Britain by Leeds's City and Holbeck detectives.
Sarik admitted three robberies including one on Berry's in Leeds city centre which netted 250,000 and others in Chester and Newcastle. He also admitted possessing a firearm or immitation gun.
The detectives from the Monaco police were to question Sarik about an armed robbery in Monte Carlo last May.
Capt Quessada said he believes four men organised the raid and three of them took part in it. Only five such armed raids have taken place in the principality in the last 10 years.
Monaco detectives have already liaised closely with police in Italy where two men involved in the Monte Carlo raids were arrested and sentenced to four years jail. Another man was detained in France and transferred to Belgium where he was wanted in connection with another of the gang's raids.
Capt Qessada said that the gang's ruthless methods were the same in a number of different countries.
The gang targeted Berry's jewellers in Leeds on four occasions, three of which netted more than 680,000.
Det Insp Lloyd Batley has said that Estonia's joining the EU, coupled with cheap flights, encouraged robbers to carry out raids and disappear back to Tallinn in Estonia, where they had been planned.
He said that four members of the gang have already been jailed for a total of 43 years. Officers from West Yorkshire have visited Estonia, Germany and Finland in the inquiry.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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