A family was taken hostage in the Swiss Jura on the evening of Wednesday, November 3. Six criminals had targeted the father, director of a watch company, in order to steal gold. They had then crossed the border and brought their booty back to France, according to the first elements revealed by the Swiss attorney general of the canton of Jura.
The bandits would have waited for the boss in front of his home in Bassecourt, relates Eastern Republican. The man and his family were taken hostage at gunpoint. They were forced to go to the headquarters of the watch company, the daily explains. There, the thieves allegedly stole raw materials, including several tens of kilograms of gold.
Burned vehicles
The thugs would then have fled behind the wheel of three vehicles, with their loot and their hostages. The latter were abandoned with their car in a forest near Bourrignon, very close to the border with France. The victims were in a state of shock but would not have been injured, specifies the regional newspaper. The criminals left for France at the wheel of two Audi, allegedly stolen.
The Swiss security forces tried to intercept the gold thieves but their cars forced the roadblock set up in Lucelle (Haut-Rhin). A local customs officer was hit and injured in the leg, the Swiss prosecutor told our colleagues. The vehicles were found set on fire, late in the evening, near Meroux-Moval, near Belfort (Territoire de Belfort). A submachine gun was also reportedly found in the carcass of the Audi. The brigands have still not been found, indicates Eastern Republican.
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