They had stolen 45 bottles of wine with a total value of 1.6 million euros from a luxury Spanish restaurant. But the pair of “expert thieves” were then caught after a nine-month hunt in Croatia. As the Guardian reported in October 2021, a man and woman staying at the Atrio hotel and restaurant in Cáceres, southwest Spain, stole dozens of bottles of expensive French wine, including an 1806 Château D’Yquem.
Spain’s Policía Nacional said the “meticulously planned” theft began with the woman using a fake Swiss ID to book the hotel. The couple then dined at the property’s restaurant before taking a tour of the acclaimed winery. “Then the two went to their room, which the man quickly left to return to the basement,” the police said. “Having used a previously stolen passe-partout for access, he returned with three large backpacks, one on his back and two in each hand, containing the bottles he had been hiding and padded with hotel towels to protect the bottles were.” While the man was digging in the basement, the woman distracted an employee by asking him to prepare her meal, even though the kitchen was closed. The couple then left the hotel at 5.30am the next day.
“After numerous investigations both in Spain and in other countries, the agents were able to identify the two suspects, noting the high level of professionalism, specialization and perfect planning of the theft,” said the statement of the police, who also discovered the couple had visited the restaurant three times to explore the place before carrying out the theft. According to agents, the couple left Spain days after the theft, moving around Europe so much that investigators found it difficult to keep up. The two were eventually traced to the Montenegro-Croatia border and arrested in Croatia thanks to a joint Interpol-Europol operation. It later emerged that two arrest warrants from Madrid judges were pending against the man.