Gold and jewellery valued at around $USD10 million ($AUD15.77 million) was stolen from a jewellery store in downtown Los Angeles after criminals tunnelled through multiple reinforced walls.
Love Jewels Inc, located on Broadway Avenue in the downtown jewellery district, is well-known on social media as a source of jewellery for rappers, offering extravagant statement pieces.
Los Angeles Police Department Captain Raul Jovel told reporters that tunnelling into jewellery stores, while rare, isn’t unheard of.
“They went for some really thick old walls. They went into one small room and then through a second wall. This was serious digging,” Jovel told the LA Times.
Investigators suggested that professional burglars entered the store by drilling through a wall from a nearby cinema and spent several hours inside. Media reports detail security footage of the incident, in which a massive drill can be heard carving through the walls.
Investigators believe the burglars cut the security camera feed after entering and said there are no images of the suspects inside the business. Staff at the jewellery store learned of the theft on Monday morning.
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