Inside a Multi-Million Dollar Jewelry Heist | Informer

This Informer was part of a syndicate of jewel thieves that hailed primarily from the Balkans. He’s been entangled in crime his whole life, including many high stake jewel heists – stealing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of uncut diamonds, jewelry and cash. It only takes him 60 seconds to walk into a jewelry store, smash the displays with hammers and crowbars and grab all he could get his hands on. He’d loot these diamonds at night and then sell them right back to the district during the day - describing this as the perfect continuum. There were enemies, violence and backstabbing situations. Once, he was kidnapped, wrapped in duct tape and had his life threatened in exchange for his blueprints and keys to the city’s diamond district. He says guys like him do not last long and was eventually caught and imprisoned for over a decade. Nowadays, the Informer has retired from crime but he misses the adrenaline, the action and the abundance of cash. He still pictures himself doing the robberies in his head and lives with no regrets, “I lived a pretty full life, I took chances”. Check out the VICE World News playlist for global reporting you won’t find elsewhere: Watch more form this series: Drugs, Sex and Gangs Inside Rikers Island Prison What the Gambling Industry Doesn’t Want You To Know I Was Sold At A Slave Market Click here to subscribe to VICE: About VICE: The Definitive Guide To Enlightening Information. From every corner of the planet, our immersive, caustic, ground-breaking and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet and other subjects that don’t even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world you never knew existed. Welcome to VICE. Connect with VICE: Check out our full video catalog: Videos, daily editorial and more: More videos from the VICE network: Click here to get the best of VICE daily: Like VICE on Facebook: Follow VICE on Twitter: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on TikTok: @vice?lang=en The VICE YouTube Network: VICE: MUNCHIES: VICE News: VICELAND: Vice Life: Noisey: Motherboard: VICE Sports: i-D: Waypoint: