AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Prosecutors may have finally pinpointed the culprits behind what they call the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history. They have indicted seven defendants, charging them with allegedly robbing a Brink's security truck back in July 2022 and making away with up to $100 million worth of gold, precious gems and luxury watches. To tell us all about it, we're joined now in the studio by Daniel Miller, who's been reporting on this story since the very beginning of it for the LA Times. Welcome to NPR West.
DANIEL MILLER: Oh, thanks so much for having me.
CHANG: OK, so just remind us how this all played out - because this wasn't just some smash-and-grab jewelry robbery, right?
MILLER: That's right. This was a sophisticated case, and it began in July 2022 at a jewelry show in Northern California. At the conclusion of this jewelry show in San Mateo, all of these jewels, diamonds, you name it, they were loaded up on a Brink's big rig, and that big rig started a journey to Southern California. Along the way, we now know this big rig was followed by thieves who allegedly broke into it while it was parked at a truck stop in the Grapevine, about 70 miles north of Los Angeles.
CHANG: Right. One driver was getting a meal. The other driver was asleep inside the truck, right?
MILLER: That's right. And that is the detail that first got my attention. So this big rig is parked at this truck stop around 2 a.m. And what we know is that there was a 27-minute window where the thieves had the time to make off with 24 bags of jewelry.
CHANG: I bet that sleeping driver felt so bad.
MILLER: You know, we haven't been able to interview the sleeping driver. We certainly have tried. I think people want to know, how did he not wake up, right? I know that's one of our questions.
CHANG: (Laughter) It's one of mine. OK, so what do we know at least about the seven alleged coconspirators who were named in this indictment?
MILLER: So there are seven coconspirators. They're ages roughly 30 to 60. And they have allegedly some experience in heists, although they are smaller ones. We learned from the indictment that these men were also involved in a series of burglaries and robberies, allegedly, in Southern California in the months ahead of the Brink's heist. These were much smaller. I think the biggest take was allegedly about $250,000. Nonetheless, there were similar tactics, where they were following vehicles and then breaking into them when they were empty.
CHANG: Right, but not humongous jewelry trucks in those heists.
MILLER: That's right. Yeah. I mean, $100 million is a big number, of course.
CHANG: Yeah.
MILLER: We should also say that it's in dispute. Brink's says that this jewelry is worth far less.
CHANG: That's right. There's some litigation right now between Brink's and these affected jewelers about the actual value of what was lost. Do we know what the latest is in that litigation?
MILLER: So almost since the heist occurred, these parties have been fighting it out in court, both in New York and Los Angeles. And the case that is the farthest along is the one in New York. And basically, Brink's has said, look, these customers of ours, they signed manifest that in total said the value of the jewelry we were transporting was about $8.7 million. And they've effectively asked the court to enforce those contracts, and then Brink's would pay out something like $8.7 million. The jewelers in their own suit say...
CHANG: Right.
MILLER: ...No, no, no.
CHANG: Way more than.
MILLER: This was worth, you know, more than ten times that amount. And that is what they allege in their lawsuit in Los Angeles, but that one is just not as far along.
CHANG: Well, I know that you talked to one of the jewelers who was robbed. How are they processing all of this news right now?
MILLER: That's right. I spoke to Jean Malki within hours of the indictment being unsealed. He was speechless. He did not know what to say. He was thankful that the authorities had taken this action after so many years. And I think most of all, he was desperate to know whether any of his jewelry has been recovered because we should say that the authorities have announced that they have recovered some items. But, you know, this has destroyed their livelihoods in many cases.
CHANG: Yeah, with a loss like.
MILLER: That's right. And, you know, I think this story has so much sort of cinematic detail to it, right? But I do try to remind myself this is real people's lives at stake, who, in some cases, have left the jewelry trade as a result.
CHANG: That is LA Times reporter Daniel Miller. Thank you so much for coming in today.
MILLER: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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