A person and girl carried out the ‘meticulously deliberate’ theft on the Atrio resort and restaurant in western Spain again in October.
They made off with a bottle of 1806 Château D’Yquem and a big haul of Domaine de la Romanée Conti after breaking into Atrio’s well-known cellar.
That sparked a nine-month worldwide manhunt. Police in Spain teamed up with Interpol and Europol, plus authorities in Romania and the Netherlands, to trace a pair of suspects down.
They finally swooped on a 29-year-old Mexican girl and her Romanian-Dutch confederate in Croatia this week.
Spain’s Policía Nacional mentioned the couple visited the restaurant 3 times to scope it out earlier than finishing up the theft.
The girl, described by El Pais as ‘a former magnificence queen’, checked into Atrio Resort utilizing faux Swiss id paperwork earlier than the heist.
The couple dined within the restaurant, which has two Michelin stars, earlier than taking a tour of the wine cellar.
Spanish police mentioned the lady later distracted workers by asking for meals to be ready after the kitchen had closed, whereas her confederate ransacked the cellar.
‘After utilizing a beforehand purloined grasp key to achieve entry, he emerged with three giant rucksacks – one on his again and two in every hand – which held the bottles he had stashed, and which had been full of resort towels to guard the bottles,’ mentioned Policía Nacional in an announcement.
The couple scarpered at 5.30am the subsequent day. Atria’s homeowners alerted the police, and the story hit headlines all over the world.
Atria’s distraught co-owner and sommelier José Polo informed Decanter he would purchase the wine again from the robbers, particularly the 1806 Château D’Yquem. ‘Greater than the bottles of wine, they robbed our goals,’ mentioned Polo.
The couple fled Spain just a few days later, zigzagging throughout Europe to flee detection. Nonetheless, they had been lastly tracked down on the Montenegro-Croatia border this week. Police reported that the person was the topic of two excellent arrest warrants in Madrid.
‘Following quite a few inquiries, in each Spain and different international locations, officers managed to establish the 2 suspects, noting the excessive diploma of professionalism, specialisation and excellent planning that had gone into the theft,’ mentioned Policía Nacional.
The stolen wine has not been recovered and the investigation is ongoing.
