"TITLED" THIEVES CAPTURED.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 65, 16 March 1907, Page 13

"TITLED" THIEVES CAPTURED.

TRUNKS FULL OF XEWELS AND BAXK-NOTES.

Two members of a gang of international thieves "wanted" by the police of London, Paris. Rome, Brussels, Zurich, and other cities, have been captured at Berne, writes a Geneva correspondent, in a remarkable manner. They were staying as titled visitors at one of the best hotels, but have been identified as a Greek murderer and an Italian criminal, both with a long list of offences against them.

Late at night, when everybody else was asleep iv the hotel, an Englishman and his wife were reading in their room and sa-v their door being stealthily unlocked from outside. The door was gently pushed open and a man's bead thrust cautiously iuside. Seeing himself observed, the intruder hastily withdrew, locking the door behind him.

Next morning the police were called in, and on searching the rooms of the two

"aristocratic" visitors during their absence made some astounding discoveries.

Three strong boxes were found filled with jewels, bank-notes, coins, and valuable securities. A large box contained every kind of disguise, and a large bag was filled with beautifully finished sets of burglar's tools and with bottles of ether and chloroform .

Inquiries were made by the Berne police in Europe, but it was some days before the real identity of the..prisoners cress- dis- -_«____.-,__-.

The band to which they belong has a. third member, who has escaped: Each of tlie three had. a. speciality. One was the "prospector," who travelled in advance and discovered the likely people and places; the second executed, the robbery, and handed his booty to the third, who promptly disappeared with it and arranged for its sale

Tbe thieves will be tried at Zurich, ana, fitter serving their various sentences in Switzerland, will be extradited to Brussels and other Dlaces.