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)
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