Pink Panther arrested in Argentina: He stole jewelry worth €2 million in Saint Tropez

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Zvjezdan Begic, 46, from Podgorica, Montenegro, a convicted member of the Pink Panther criminal organization, has been arrested in Buenos Aires.

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According to the Argentine website infobae.com, he entered that country with a forged European Union passport, and lived under a false Argentine identity.

Begic was sentenced to 15 years in prison in France and the Italian police are looking for him in connection to a robbery in Milan.

According to a Vijesti.me report, it was Interpol officials who handcuffed him.

France, it is explained, has been looking for him since 2005, and Italy since 2017.

According to the website, Begic and his colleague entered a jewelry store in Saint Tropez in 2005 and took jewels worth 2 million euros.

Numerous media previously reported that Begic and Dusko Martinovic were sentenced to 15 years in prison in France for that, with a lifelong ban to enter that country.

"Begic and two colleagues went into the 'Paradiso Luxury' jewelry store armed, and emptied it: they took 20 Rolex watches, two bracelets estimated to be worth 200,000 euros each, and fled," the Argentinian website says.

It is explained that he escaped to the capital of Argentina and lived in a luxury apartment in the settlement of Nunez.

"Interpol agents found him there after a difficult investigation that lasted a year," the report said, and added that a procedure for his extradition will be initiated.

According to police reports, the infamous Pink Panthers are made up of a group of about 200 members - Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins, Bosnians, many of whom have previous military experience.

They are mostly accused of robbing very valuable jewelry.

The media say that the British police named the criminal group "Pink Panthers" after they tried to smuggle a blue diamond in a box of face cream in 2004, just like in the famous film comedy of the same name.

"These are heavily armed thugs who do not hesitate to shoot if they get into trouble, although they have not killed anyone so far," said a former Interpol head of crime and drug trafficking divison, Emmanuel Leclerc.

Martinovic was sentenced to six years in prison in Podgorica

Dusko Martinovic was sentenced by the Podgorica Higher Court to six years and three months in prison, as the organizer of a criminal group that smuggled drugs.

He admitted during the trial that he participated in international drug trafficking and trade, but denied that he organized a criminal group.

He said at the time that the others in the dock were innocent and did not know about his plans, which is why he asked the court to acquit them.

(Telegraf.rs)