The search for evidence in the case of the spectacular theft of jewels from the Green Vault in Dresden continues: Special forces were deployed in the Neukölln shipping canal on Sunday.
The police launched a large-scale search operation in the Neukölln shipping canal in Berlin on Sunday in connection with the burglary in the Green Vault in Dresden. About 20 police divers from different federal states had been deployed on the Kiehlufer near Treptower Strasse since the morning, the Dresden police department said. During the operation, around 150 meters of the canal should be searched for evidence.
“At the same time, officers secure the immediate area. The measures will take some time,” it said. No further details were given. “In view of the ongoing investigations, further information is currently not possible. This currently also includes the results of the search measures,” said the police.
The divers systematically searched the water around a bridge on Treptower Straße. In the dirty water, the divers had little visibility, as reported by an rbb reporter. They scanned the ground as part of the search, the reporter continued, and repeatedly found objects covered with silt and mud, which they brought ashore. The police do not want to say whether the divers are specifically looking for jewelry or general evidence.
The search this Sunday should last until nightfall.
Around three years after the burglary in the treasury, most of the loot turned up again shortly before Christmas. 31 items from the theft were secured in Berlin and taken back to Dresden, where experts are currently examining the pieces. The jewels’ return was apparently preceded by a deal between a defense attorney and the judiciary. It was “talked between the defense and the public prosecutor’s office, including the court, about a possible agreement on the procedure and the repatriation of looted items that were still there,” it said officially.
In the early morning of November 25, 2019, pieces of jewelry with a total of 4,300 diamonds and brilliants with a total value of over 113 million euros were stolen from the Green Vault. The perpetrators had also caused damage to property amounting to more than one million euros. The slump made international headlines. In this case, six young men are currently facing charges of gang theft and serious arson. You are German and come from a well-known Arab family in Berlin. The trial is scheduled to continue on January 10th.
Broadcast: rbb 88.8, December 25, 2022, 2:00 p.m
Note: In the previous version of the article, we reported that the divers were searching in the Berlin Landwehr Canal. However, the exact spot on the Kiehlufer is on the Neukölln shipping canal.