BERLIN (AP) – Police in the German capital have arrested one of two wanted fugitives in connection with the spectacular theft of 18th-century jewelery from a museum in Dresden last year, officials said on Tuesday.
Dresden police said 21-year-old Mohamed Remmo was arrested by Berlin authorities in a car in the city’s Neukoelln district on Monday evening.
Remmo and his twin brother, Abdul Majed Remmo, were wanted internationally after evading police during a mass sweep last month.
During this operation, three others were arrested in connection with the theft of a large diamond brooch, a diamond fuse and other treasures from the Dresden Green Vault Museum on November 25, 2019.
The suspects, aged 23 to 26, were charged with organized robbery and arson.
It was not immediately known how police tracked down Mohamed Remmo, who was taking him to Dresden on Tuesday. They said they were still looking for their brother with “high intensity.”
Searches at more than a dozen locations have so far not found the missing treasures.
Members of the Remmo family were convicted earlier this year of a similar robbery, the theft of a 100-kilogram (220-pound) Canadian gold coin christened the Bode Museum’s “Big Maple Leaf.” of Berlin in 2017.
The coin, with an estimated value of 3.75 million euros ($ 4.45 million), has not yet been recovered and authorities have said it was probably cut into smaller pieces and sold.
The Green Vault is one of the oldest museums in the world. It was established in 1723 and contains the treasure of Augustus the Fort of Saxony, which comprises about 4,000 objects of gold, precious stones and other materials.
Shortly after the robbery, authorities offered a reward of 500,000 euros ($ 593,000) for information leading to the recovery of the jewelry or the arrest of the thieves.