Idex Online reports that three armed men robbed the Cartier luxury jewelry store in Cannes on Monday in a blitz heist. They made their getaway with fine jewelry estimated at a total value of $21 million.

Over the past year there has been a rash of sophisticated armed robberies of luxury jewelry worth millions of dollars from high-end jewelry stores.



Idex Online quotes reports according to which a man wearing Hawaiian shirt walked into the store and threatened the staff at gunpoint. Two other men wearing helmets followed him and took diamond jewelry from glass display cases before making their escape on scooters.

According to the police, part of the stolen jewelry is worth at least $1.6 million.



The Pink Panther gang, which is believed to be responsible for a spate of similar luxury jewelry thefts across Europe in the last few years, is a prime suspect.



Several alleged members of the gang suspected of involvement in the December robbery of luxury jeweler Harry Winston store in Paris, were arrested last month.