An audacious raid on two armoured trucks on a busy motorway was last night being linked to a notorious gang known as the Pink Panthers . Jewels worth at least £7million were stolen by armed robbers who struck yesterday at a toll booth on the route linking Paris to the South of France . The daring raid took place just after midnight as the security trucks approached the toll at Avallon in Burgundy , 125 miles south-east of Paris on the A6 . Burnt-out vehicles are seen after a group of battle-hardened armed thieves attacked two heavily guarded vans carrying jewels . Authorities are combing the Yonne region in Burgundy southeast of Paris and surrounding areas for the attackers ( file picture ) The robbery took place on the A6 highway connecting Paris and Lyon . The A6 is a major route connecting the north and south of the country . As they slowed for the barrier , four cars forced them to a halt and up to 15 robbers appeared wearing balaclavas and brandishing automatic weapons . They used gas sprays to knock out the two armed guards in each lorry . The guards were pulled from their cabs and dumped by the toll booth . Yesterday 's raid bore all the hallmarks of having been carried out by the Pink Panthers , a gang responsible for audacious heists across Europe and beyond over the past two decades . They always wear balaclavas or face masks and use Kalashnikovs and high-powered stolen cars to carry out their spectacular crimes . The Pink Panthers are said to speak several languages and travel on genuine passports issued to other people , but with the photos changed . Many are former soldiers from Eastern Europe . France is their favoured operating ground but they have carried out more than 100 heists across the globe , netting £300million . Cities where they have struck include London , Dubai , Geneva , Monte Carlo and Tokyo . In 2008 a court in Chambery , south-eastern France , found three Serb members of the Pink Panthers guilty of carrying out robberies in Biarritz , Cannes , Courchevel and Saint-Tropez . No shots were fired and the robbers drove off in the security trucks , which belonged to a Paris company and were full of jewels and other valuables . Other gang members escaped in the cars . Prosecutors said much of the raid would have been caught on CCTV . The trucks were found burned out – and empty – four hours later , 20 miles north in a wood in the village of Quenne , just off the A6 near Auxerre . A mechanical digger was discovered with its arm inside one truck , suggesting that the safes on board were transferred to the get-away cars . There were reports that the cars were spotted speeding towards Paris . Police helicopters and other units were scrambled to hunt the gang but by dawn there was no sign . The security guards are being held for questioning . The A6 , known as the ‘ Motorway of the Sun ’ is hugely popular with holidaymakers , and is used by hundreds of thousands of British drivers every year . The methods used in the robbery immediately led to speculation that the Pink Panthers – a notorious gang of criminals from Eastern Europe – had struck again . The gang earned their name in 1993 after stealing a £500,000 diamond from a jewellers in Mayfair , London , and hiding it in a jar of face cream – a tactic copied from the 1963 film The Pink Panther , starring Peter Sellers as the bungling Inspector Clouseau . The film ’ s title refers to the name of the missing diamond , although a cartoon pink panther appears in the opening and closing credits . The police official says no one was injured in the attack early Wednesday , and the drivers of the two vans were left at the scene unharmed ( file picture )
Authorities blamed the Yonne region in Burgundy for the attack . A police official says no one was injured in the attack early morning . The two vans were found burned in a forest near the site of the attack . The robbery took place on the A6 highway connecting Paris and Lyon . Gang used gas to drive security guards out of their vehicles . police said that the robbers were ' heavily armed and battle - scarred '