World’s biggest unsolved heists from Belfast robbers who stole £26million to Antwerp mission-impossible diamond robbery

WHILE the culprits of most heists are quickly rounded up by cops there are a handful of criminal masterminds who have managed to take off with their million-pound loot and avoid capture. 

The world’s most notorious unsolved heists have captivated amateur detectives and internet sleuths for years revealing the astonishing lengths criminals will go to snatch the goods. 

From million-pound bank robberies to mission-impossible-style diamond burglaries - each unsolved heist shows the sheer ingenuity of these clever thieves. 

Each member of the gang plays a crucial role and on the day of the heist every aspect must play out seamlessly. 

Any small error, a fingerprint or DNA evidence left behind at the scene, could offer cops a key clue and mean the whole gang goes down for the crime. 

But one thing these unsolved heists have in common is that those responsible or only some of them have been brought to justice. 

One of the most famous unsolved robberies of all time, dubbed the Antwerp Diamond Heist, saw a criminal gang infiltrate one of the world's most secure vaults. 

The gang of Italian criminals known as ‘the School of Turin’ made off with £90million worth of loose diamonds, gold and silver in Belgium Diamond Centre in 2003. 

The plan was masterminded by career thief Leonardo Notarbartolo, nicknamed ‘The Artist’, who used a camera hidden inside a pen to work out the layout of the vault during visits disguised as a diamond dealer. 

The centre where the vault was held was believed to be impenetrable - a 14-floor fortress guarded by a private security team, protected by metal turnstiles and each person ID’d on the way in.