Have you ever watched the Money Heist Movie? Well, if you have, you’ll be impressed by this story of a wine heist at a Spanish hotel.
On October 27, 2021, a Mexican beauty queen, Priscila Lara Guevara, a former Miss Earth 2016 contestant in Mexico, and her male accomplice, Constantín Gabriel Dumitru, were reported to have completed an almost perfect heist at the Atrio restaurant and hotel in Caceres, Spain. Any restaurant might have forgotten about the theft and recorded it as a loss. But this was a different case because the couple had dined in the hotel restaurant. They evaded arrest for nine months before being apprehended for stealing 45 bottles of wine with a total value of $1.68M.
In the heist that made headlines across the world, the man and woman were guests at Atrio restaurant, and made away with expensive French wines. Among the wines stolen included ten bottles of 1806 Chateau d’Yquem (one bottle estimated to cost €310,000) as reported by Decanter and twenty bottles of Romanée-Conti.
So how did they execute this heist? The Spain police gave details on how the theft occurred, stating that it was perfectly planned and executed with professionalism. The Spanish police also released video footage of what transpired on that fateful day on their official Twitter page. The couple had meticulously planned the heist by visiting the hotel three times to scout the restaurant before carrying out the theft.
After casing the restaurant, the woman booked the hotel in the Spanish city of Caceres, using fake Swiss credentials and a disguise. She checked into the hotel, where the rooms cost about £339 per night. Later that night, she went to dinner with her male accomplice.
After the couple had their dinner, they were given a tour of the wine cellar. This was not uncommon as restaurant guests were occasionally treated to a tour of the wine cellar.
They later went to their hotel room, but moments later, the man left the room and went into the wine cellar.
The Spain police said, “the man suspect accessed the wine cellar using a stolen master key. While this was going on, the woman was busy distracting the staff by asking for food despite the fact the kitchen is usually closed at that particular time.” The man was captured on CCTV leaving the cellar with three large backpacks, one on his back and the others on each hand. Inside were bottles of wine cushioned with hotel towels.
Staff at the hotel noticed the missing wine bottles the following morning, but the couple had already left the hotel that morning at 5:00 a.m. A few days later, the couple left Spain and traveled to other European countries. This made it hard for the police to locate them.
Thanks to a joint operation by national and international police authorities, including Europol and Interpol, they finally arrested the thieves attempting to enter Croatia through the Karasovi Sutorina border crossing. At the time of their arrest, the police stated that the male suspect had two outstanding warrants in Madrid. These warrants were issued as he had previously tried to steal high-end wine bottles.
The current whereabouts of the stolen wine bottles are unknown. One of the restaurant owners stated that he doesn’t know anything officially, but he hopes the bottles are recovered and that he gets them back. The suspects are awaiting extradition to Spain for arraignment in court.
