German police have arrested one of two fugitive twins wanted in connection with the spectacular theft of 18th-century jewelry from a museum in Dresden last year.
A spokesman for the Dresden police, Marko Laske, said on Tuesday that a 21-year-old man has been arrested in Berlin. He said further details would be released later.
German police last month arrested three people in connection with the theft of a large diamond brooch, diamond epaulet and other treasures from the Green Vault Museum in Dresden in November 2019.
The suspects, aged between 23 and 26, were charged with organized robbery and arson. At the time, police gave photos of two others, wanted on the same charge, and identified them as Abdul Majed Remmo, 21, and Mohamed Remmo, 21.
It was not immediately clear which of the Remmo twins had been arrested on Monday and which had remained free.
Searches in more than a dozen locations did not return the missing items.
Members of the Remmo family were convicted this year of an equally spectacular robbery, the theft of a 100 kg Canadian gold coin, known as the Big Maple Leaf, from Berlin’s Bode Museum in 2017.
The coin, valued at € 3.75 million, has not been recovered and authorities have argued that it was likely cut into smaller pieces and sold.
The Green Vault is one of the world’s oldest museums. It was founded in 1723 and contains the treasury of Augustus II the Strong of Saxony, consisting of about 4,000 objects made of gold, precious stones and other materials.
Shortly after the theft, authorities offered a reward of € 500,000 for information that would lead to the recovery of the jewelry or the arrest of the thieves.