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The
men, who were jailed in Britain last month, were dubbed the
"Mission: Impossible" gang by UK media because of their
acrobatic technique, reminiscent of a famous scene in the 1996
movie in which Tom Cruise is lowered into a vault on a rope.
The antique books, considered to be of international cultural
significance, include works by English scientist Isaac Newton
and Spanish artist Francisco Goya and relating to Italian
astronomer Galileo Galilei, the Metropolitan Police said.
The burglary took place in January 2017 at a warehouse in
Feltham, west London, where the books, which belonged to
specialist dealers and had been shipped from Italy and Germany,
were being stored on their way to a U.S. book fair.
After cutting holes in the perimeter fence to gain access to the
warehouse, the burglars cut holes into skylights in the roof and
lowered themselves down onto shelves, thus avoiding activating
sensor-based alarms located by the doors.
The burglary was one of 12 carried out by the gang, linked to
the Clamparu organised crime group based in the Iasi region in
eastern Romania, at various locations around Britain over a
two-and-a-half year period.
In meticulously planned operations, gang members would fly into
the country to commit burglaries then fly out shortly
afterwards. Twelve of them were jailed for terms ranging from
three years and eight months to five years and eight months.
London's Metropolitan Police worked on the case for over three
years with counterparts in Romania and Italy.
After the books were discovered hidden underground at a house in
Romania, they were transported to the country's National Library
in Bucharest, where four of the five owners travelled last month
to recover them.
"It was lovely to see the joy of each victim being reunited with
these irreplaceable books," said Detective Inspector Andy
Durham, adding that one of the book dealers, Alessandro Bado,
had reacted by declaring with great gusto: "Tonight we drink
like lions."
(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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