‘Wine theft of the century': A beauty queen, 45 bottles of the liquor and a nine-month European chase

This was one ‘intoxicating’ chase. After a nine-month hunt through Europe, police in Spain have arrested the couple responsible for a brazen wine heist that the press dubbed the “theft of the century.”

The culprits, identified as Priscila Lara Guevara — who took part in the ‘Miss Earth’ competition once and Romanian-Dutch man Constantin Gabriel Dumitru, were arrested in Croatia over the theft of €1.65 million (Rs 13.4 crore) worth of prestige bottles of wine from a Michelin-starred restaurant in Spain.

A chase thru Europe! A former Mexican beauty queen! Wine theft! Restaurants w/ Michelin stars!
INJECT THIS IN MY VEINS, INTERNET!https://t.co/TpYyeG3gm4

— Ryan O'Connell (@ryanoconnell79) July 21, 2022

Here’s a look back at this daring heist which unravelled in the most astonishing fashion.

The theft

In October last year, the duo visited El Atrio, a restaurant in Caceres in western Spain, which has two Michelin stars.

There are conflicting reports on how the theft took place, but what is certain is that the duo got away with 45 bottles of wine, some dating back more than 200 years. Among the bottles which were taken was an 1806 Chateau d’Yquem, which was bought at auction for €12,000 in London but was offered at the restaurant at a price of €350,000 (Rs 2.85 crore).

As per one account, the now identified Priscila Lara Guevara distracted El Atrio waiters by ordering room service from the Michelin-starred restaurant after its kitchen had closed.

Meanwhile, her 47-year-old male accomplice slipped down to the wine cellar, opened it with a master key he had stolen during a prior visit, and filled three backpacks with the bottles, wrapping them in hotel room towels for protection.

The other account of the theft mentions that the duo, who were then defined as speaking English and giving staff the impression of being a refined couple, checked into the hotel and dined at its restaurant. They asked a hotel front desk clerk to serve them more food and when he went to the kitchen, leaving security camera monitors unattended, the man slipped into the cellar and stole the bottles.

Authorities reported that CCTV cameras captured them the next day checking out at 5.30 am and leaving on foot. It was also revealed then that the two had checked in with false Swiss identity documents.

The police investigating the theft reported that it was a meticulously planned heist, which had initially led them to believe that it was the work of an organised gang.

The authorities also stated that the couple had visited El Atrio three times before the robbery in in June, August and September and had, like many customers, been given a tour of the wine cellar, which helped them in their plans.

Sommelier and co-owner of El Atrio, Jose Polo speaking on the heist had said, “The Chateau d’Yquem from 1806 was part of my personal history, almost part of me, of the history of Atrio, but also of Caceres, of its citizens, of wine lovers all over the world.”

The thieves took bottles of Romanee Conti, of which there are only 3,500 made every year. Each bottle is sold for €12,500 (Rs 10.15 lakh) at Atrio.

The Atrio Restaurant Hotel’s wine cellar is considered to be the best in Spain and one of the best in Europe.

It has been built up over the past 35 years since the landmark premises opened and has wines from 140 different countries.

The chase

Guevara and Dumitru left Spain within days of the theft, which turned into a nine-month chase by the Spanish police.

They kept moving from place to place, leading to Spanish officials joining hands with their counterparts in the Netherlands, Croatia and Romania as well as Interpol to catch the pair.

The law’s long hand finally caught up with the pair after Croatian border guards identified them as they were crossing from Montenegro.

The stolen wine hasn’t been located yet and authorities are still hunting for it. In the meantime, the pair are awaiting extradition to Spain.

Biggest wine jobs!

This isn’t the first time that thieves have struck a wine cellar — a la Italian Job.

In December 2014, thieves broke into the front door of Thomas Keller’s French Laundry restaurant in Yountville, California and made their way with over $300,000 (Rs 2.4 crore) worth of wine. They broke in with a crowbar and stole 76 bottles in total, including dozens of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti and five bottles of Screaming Eagle.

However, in less than a month, most of the wine was discovered in Greensboro, North Carolina, some 3,000 miles away from the three Michelin-star touting restaurant.

Another case that made headlines was when a man in southern California stole over 1,000 bottles of Bordeaux over a four-year stretch from Legend Cellars, a private storage locker for wine enthusiasts.

Between 2008-2012, George Osumi, who worked for the storage company swapped 1,000 fine Bordeauxs, each costing around $3,000 (Rs 2.4 lakh), from three clients with wine that retails for $2 (Rs 160) per bottle.

In May 2011, six men broke into a warehouse in east London and stole over 400 cases of wine. The men broke through a padlock at the front gate, bent a shutter door to gain access to the warehouse and then disabled the security cameras.

Once inside, they used a forklift to load and steal pallets full of cases of rare and old vintage wine. The value of the wine? Roughly $1.6 million (Rs 12.7 crore).

With inputs from agencies

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