0:00 On February sixteenth, 2003, thieves walked out of the Antwerp Diamond Center with over one hundred million dollars in jewels.0:09 They did it by defeating a vault protected by TEN layers of security, including Doppler radar, seismic sensors, and a lock with one hundred million possible combinations.0:21 In our last episode on almost-perfect heists, we talked about genius plans undone by one unforgettable mistake, but THIS...0:30 this is the absolute masterpiece of that genre.0:34 This is the story of a perfect crime foiled by a half-eaten sandwich.0:39 So.0:39 The leader of this crew is a guy from Turin named Leonardo Notarbartolo.0:44 And he is not your average smash-and-grab thief.0:48 He's a professional.0:49 An artist.0:50 He spends over TWO YEARS planning this.0:53 First, he rents a small office inside the Antwerp Diamond Center itself, posing as an Italian diamond merchant.1:01 This gives him a legitimate ID badge and lets him just...1:05 wander around.1:06 For eighteen months, he’s watching.1:09 He’s using a camera hidden in a pen to photograph everything.1:13 He and his team get so much detail they build a full-scale, working REPLICA of the vault just to practice.1:21 A whole replica!1:22 Who DOES that?1:23 The vault itself was two floors underground.1:27 Considered completely impenetrable.1:29 So how did they get in?1:31 Okay, so you know how the combination lock had a hundred million possibilities?1:37 WELL.1:37 They had hidden a tiny camera in the ceiling right above the vault door, and it recorded the guards dialing the combo.1:46 The footage was sent to a storage device they'd hidden inside a fire extinguisher.1:52 To get past the infrared heat sensors, they used a huge, custom-made polystyrene shield to completely block their body heat.2:01 They literally walked right past them.2:04 They taped over light sensors.2:06 They even built a special hand-cranked device just to pull open one hundred and nine of the safe deposit boxes inside.2:15 It was flawless.2:16 They were ghosts.2:17 They walked out with bags filled with gold, cash, and so, so many diamonds.2:23 They got away clean.2:24 One hundred million dollars.2:26 They should have been gone forever.2:29 And you'd think that would be the most chaotic thing that happened.2:34 It was not even close to the most chaotic thing that happened.2:38 Because after two years of meticulous, genius-level planning...2:43 they got sloppy.2:44 They're driving away from Antwerp, and Notarbartolo's accomplice panics and decides to dump bags of evidence on the side of the road.2:54 And of course, the bags land on property owned by a local guy who is OBSESSED with people littering on his land.3:02 He calls the cops.3:03 And inside the bags, along with tools and videotapes...3:07 police find a half-eaten salami sandwich.3:10 A salami sandwich.3:12 I am not kidding.3:13 They run the DNA.3:14 It's a perfect match for Notarbartolo.3:17 Then they find a receipt for that exact brand of salami in his apartment.3:22 Game over.3:23 Two years of patience.3:25 Ten layers of security defeated.3:27 One hundred million dollars.3:29 And it all comes undone because someone got hungry.3:33 The lesson here isn't just about criminal stupidity.3:37 It's a model for how complex systems fail.3:40 You can plan for the complex threats—the radar, the seismic sensors, the armed guards.3:46 But you can never, EVER fully account for the simple, mundane, human variable.3:52 The most sophisticated plan in the world is always vulnerable to the person who just forgets to throw away their lunch.
