Real-Life Ocean's Eleven

Net closes on the Pink Panther robbery gang (via The Teleagraph)

No, it's not the plot for the next heist movie, although it sounds like something you've already seen in theaters. This is a real, operating gang of thieves, bent on pumping their pockets full of stolen money, jewels, and anything else they can get their hands on. 

Here's an excerpt from the article that reads like the tagline for next summer's big blockbuster staring John Malkovich and Kevin Spacey (speaking of which, why hasn't the movie I just described not been made yet?):

"The criminal gang is a transnational crime group believed to include at least 200 individuals responsible for more than 90 robberies in 19 countries since 1999, with the value of stolen jewellery estimated at well over 100 million Euros," said an Interpol spokesman.

 And here's a quick list of some of the heists that they've pulled off (I love writing that statement in reference to a non-fictional occurrence):

• Paris, 2004: The gang stole 11 million pounds (the currency, not the unit of weight measurement) worth of gems while the police force in the area was distracted by a visit by the prime minister's wife.
• Cannes: In order to keep spectators from witnessing their covert operation inside of a jewelry store, they painted the a public bench directly across from the storefront.
• St. Tropez: They use a FREAKING SPEEDBOAT to evade the police, who were hopelessly and hilariously stuck in traffic.
• London, 2003: They pulled off Britain's largest and most successful diamond heist when they raiding Graff's on New Bond Street. This is the one that gave them their name, as the stolen diamond (worth 500,000 pounds) was found in a jar of facial cream, a discovery reminiscent of the 1963 film, The Pink Panther.
• Tokyo, 2004: Riding in on bikes and using tear gas to distract shoppers, the masked vigilantes made off with the Comtesse de Vendome, "a 125-carat necklace of 116 diamonds worth around £20 million."

However, in the last few weeks, at least four suspected members of the organization have been captured by detectives. 

But good luck keeping them behind bars: In a now infamous (and just as "Hollywood") incident, a member of the gang escaped prison out of a window using a fold-able ladder while his accomplices fired at the guard tower with machine guns.

And American cinema can't make a movie that isn't a sequel or adaptation. Real life, people: it's where the action lies.

-JJ