2 arrested in B60m baht gems heist

       The jewels belonged to Beauty Gems Group Co which was planning to display them at the Bangkok Gems and Jewelry Fair in mid-September.
       Officers from the Crime Suppression Division spent a month tracking the suspects after examining footage from security cameras at the company in Bang Rak district.
       The suspects were named as Danai Raiwet and Prasert Chatamornchotikul,both 45. They have been convicted of theft-related crimes and were released from prison in 2004, investigators said.
       Police said the two became friends while in jail and decided to commit a robbery together after they were released.
       Beauty Gems Group was their target on the night of Sept 9 after they found a way to get into the company's building through a rear entrance, police said.
       Officers said the two gained entry and went to the second floor where they found a safe. Between midnight and 3am, they managed to break the safe open and made off with 4,000 pieces of jewellery, including a blue topaz from Brazil worth 1.4 million baht.
       Officers spotted a pickup truck in security footage and, in their search for its owner, they tracked down Mr Danai, CSD sub-division 1 chief Pornsak Surasit said.
       The man's movements were monitored. Officers said he spent a lot of money and made more than a million baht worth of transactions at a bank - even though he did not appear to have a job.
       The CSD arrested Mr Danai on Tuesday after he left a gold shop in Min Buri district. Police found him in possession of several pieces of jewellery.
       Police said Mr Danai admitted he was a thief and implicated Mr Prasert who was later picked up at his rented home on Ratchaphruek Road. Mr Prasert was also found to be in possession of thousands of pieces of jewellery.
       Police say they found about 3,000 items of jewellery worth 58 million baht with the two men when they were arrested on Tuesday.