£100,000 heist on jewellery shop

THIEVES broke into a Limassol jewellery shop early yesterday morning and stole designer watches, jewellery and diamonds worth an estimated £100,000.

The raiders triggered the alarm system at Athos jewellery store on Gladstone Street at around 4am. They broke in through the main door using a large piece of wood, and fled the crime scene just minutes later.

Police Superintendent Theodoros Stylianou said police arrived at the shop within seven minutes but the thieves had already made good their escape.

The owner, Athos Ioannides, said the stolen goods were of a very high quality, adding that they were insured. He also said this was not the first time his shop had been broken into.

Stylianou said the modus operandi of the crime matched two previous jewellery break-ins in Nicosia and Limassol over the past five months.

CID says it is continuing its investigations and collecting evidence of what it believes to be a gang of thieves responsible for the burglaries.