Four French nationals arrested over A$5 million luxury watch heist in Australia

Guwahati: Four French nationals allegedly travelled to Australia to carry out a planned, high-value burglary that included the theft of a Swiss-made “Smiley” watch valued at A$5 million, according to police.

The men arrived in Australia in October and are accused of breaking into a home in Canberra, from where they allegedly stole more than 70 items.

The stolen property included luxury handbags, jewellery and expensive watches, among them a Richard Mille timepiece featuring a yellow gold smiley face and a pink flamingo design.

Four days after the burglary, the suspects, aged between 28 and 37, were arrested at a KFC outlet in Sydney.

They appeared in court on Thursday and are scheduled to return to court in January.

Describing the case, Detective Acting Inspector Battye said he had never seen a burglary of such scale involving suspects who travelled from overseas, calling the crime “like a movie”.

As part of the investigation, police searched a rented property in Sydney and recovered some of the stolen items, including several Hermes handbags.

Police also said items taken in a separate burglary in Sydney’s affluent suburb of Vaucluse and sent to France have since been recovered by French authorities.

However, several items remain missing, including two Hermes rings, a Van Cleef & Arpels necklace with a four-leaf clover design, and two Patek Philippe watches. Police said the missing items are rare, highly valuable and difficult to resell.

Authorities believe the burglaries were carefully planned, with the accused travelling to Australia specifically to commit the offences.