ROME – Police in the billionaires’ retreat of Porto Cervo on Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda believe thieves who made off with €315,000 in cash and jewels used sleeping gas on their victims to ensure they were not disturbed during the break-in.
Similar robberies have been reported this summer in France and Spain.
The burglaries in Porto Cervo, which took place last week, were only disclosed by police yesterday.
The thieves sneaked into the rented holiday villa of a Milanese pharmaceuticals tycoon and left with a haul worth about €300,000.
The businessman’s 42-year-old wife, her mother and their daughter were all in the house, along with a servant, but no one heard the burglars, even though they took the windows off their hinges to get in.
At the villa next door, two holidaymakers found a watch and €15,000 in cash missing. They told police they had woken up feeling weak and dazed.
In July, "gassing gangs" were reported to be targeting caravans and camper vans in France. – ( Guardianservice)