Press coverage

„With the assistance of the Jewellers’ Alert Service, a 46-year-old man with no residence was identified as the suspect.“

In Europe, Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency based in The Hague, offers similar help to businesses and it works with International Jeweller Security, a registry site.

Martin Winckel from Hagen is considered to be the best expert on the jewellery robbery scene in Europe. He has analysed more than 10,000 cases, is networked with several thousand jewellers and cooperates with all police agencies, including Europol and Interpol.

Martin Winckel is a goldsmith himself. Today he is full-time operator of the International Jewellers' Alert Service based in Hagen (Germany). He is an expert in watch and jewellery stores that want to protect themselves from burglaries or are looking for help and advice after a robbery.

Due to a warning from the International Jewellers' Alert Service, employees of the jewellers on Kaiserstraße recognised the suspect as he entered the shop and detained him until the arrival of the alarmed police officers. (...) The Vietnamese suspect was brought before the respective judge on Sunday (13.11.2016) at the request of the public prosecutor's office, who issued a warrant for his arrest.

For Martin Winckel of the International Jewellers' Alert Service, a Germany-based consultancy, clues point to a group of jewellery thieves training children for their heists. "Descriptions of one of the thieves in Singapore bear a resemblance to [a man surnamed] Luo," Winckel said, referring to a Chinese man believed to be a member of a notorious syndicate previously active in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Martin Winckel of the International Jewellers' Alert Service sees this quite differently. The German expert, who works with investigators worldwide, has evaluated 10,000 crimes. Conclusion: "The perpetrators always look for the easiest target".