French police grab Pink Panther jewel thief

A suspected member of the Pink Panthers international jewel thieves gang has been arrested at his home in Montpellier, southern France. The Montenegro-born man, who now has French and Macedonian citizenship, tried to escape through a window but failed, police sources say.

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The 47-year-old man, a former member of the French Foreign Legion, was on the run after escaping along with four other prisoners from Switzerland's Bois-Mermet jail, near Lausanne, on 14 May. They used tools and weapons smuggled in by accomplices ouutside.

He is wanted in several countries and the subject of two international arrest warrants issued by Switzerland, where he was serving time for armed robbery.

Two of the prisoners who escaped with him were caught the day after the jailbreak and two remain at large, one of them a Serb also alleged to be a Pink Panther.

The gang, born out of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, are said to be the most sueccessful jewel thieves in the world.

Since 1999 they have robbed jewellery worth 330 million euros, according to Interpol.

They were nicknamed the Pink Panthers after a raid on a London branch of Graff Diamonds in 2003, which was reminiscent of a scene in the 1975 film of that name.

Two of the gang posed as potential customers, persuading staff to open doors for them and grabbing a fortune in diamonds.

One of the thieves was overpowered and another later arrested but only a fraction of the diamonds was recovered, including one hidden in a pot of face cream.

The gang happily adopted the name and wore pink shops for a later heist in Zurich.