A Man Stole $100 Million In Diamonds, Bypassing A 100-million-combination And Much More, But Left His DNA On A Sandwich

What could have been the diamond heist of the century took place over a decade ago. In February 2003, six thieves broke into the Antwerp Diamond Center. Leonardo Notarbartolo, the leader of the gang, had an identification card from the building which provided him 24/7 access to the Diamond Center. Leonardo and his team had to work their way through strident security mechanisms: Doppler radars; heat and motion detectors; a lock with 100 million various combinations; and even a magnetic field.

According to the officials they had more than 123 deposit boxes opened up. Each deposit box had a key and a combination locked for maximum security.

Their efforts would have been successful had it not been for a single sandwich which blew up the whole operation.

Leonardo threw all of the security footage tapes and several documents into a garbage bag and dumped it near the crime scene. When the police found the bag, they also found a half-eaten salami sandwich in it. The DNA found on the sandwich matched that of Notarbartolo.

Not too long after the heist he was captured. He tried to convince the police that he was hired by a Jewish diamond merchant to do the heist. Of course, they didn’t believe him and sentenced him to 10 years in jail. He was a couple years later released on parole.