Milan Poparić (born 1978/1979) is a Bosnian Serb

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

, primarily a jewel thief. He is known for a dramatic escape from prison in July 2013. He has been identified by police as a member of a gang of jewel thieves called the

Pink Panthers The Pink Panthers are an international jewel thief network responsible for a number of robberies and thefts described as some of the most audacious in the history of organized crime. The organization has roughly 800 core members, many of whom ...

Career

Poparić is a known member of the international gang of jewel thieves called the

, who were given that name after hiding a diamond in face cream, similar to a theft portrayed in the movie '' The Return of the Pink Panther''. The Pink Panthers have been said to have stolen around $436 million since 1999. Poparić was imprisoned for a sentence of six years and eight months in 2009 for the robbery of

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

jewelry in the city of

Neuchâtel , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France), ...

. He was imprisoned in Orbe but not in the high-security area; a communication officer in the prison said, "We were never told...that Poparic was a member of Pink Panther group" and that had they known, he would have been kept in a different section.

Escape

Poparić escaped with Adrian Albrecht, a Swiss man accused of robbery,

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

, and

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

. The escape involved two accomplices outside of the prison who rammed the prison gate and subdued the guards by firing AK-47s. Poparić and Albrecht then climbed over the

barbed wire A close-up view of a barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...

with ladders brought by the accomplices. Poparić was the third member of the Pink Panthers to escape from a prison in Switzerland between May and July 2013, and his escape was described as having "resembled a scene out of a summer

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

References

External links

Pink Panthers at Interpol
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poparic, Milan Bosnia and Herzegovina criminals Jewel thieves Living people 1970s births People convicted of robbery Escapees from Swiss detention Year of birth uncertain