Dutch police recently arrested two more suspects in connection with the theft of Romanian artifacts from the Drents Museum in Assen, the Netherlands earlier this year in January.
“These suspects are a 20-year-old man and an 18-year-old man, both from Heerhugowaard. Both men will be questioned about their role in the art theft from the Drents Museum. The stolen masterpieces have not been found,” according to a translated statement from the Netherlands Police.
The 20-year-old suspect was seen in images recorded by security cameras at a hardware store in Assen. The individual in those images “emerged as a suspect because he bought a dead blow hammer and a sledgehammer at the hardware store in Assen which were similar to the tools used in the robbery a few days later,” according to the NL Times, which first reported news of the arrests.
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These security camera images were posted on the website of the Netherlands Police as well as on Facebook and Instagram.
Immediately after the arrests of the two suspects on April 23, police searched a house in Heerhugowaard. Earlier that day, police officers had already searched a house in Opmeer and a business premises in Heerhugowaard. The police statement said investigators seized digital data carriers, “among other things”.
“The investigation into the stolen masterpieces from the Drents Museum does not stop with these arrests,” the police statement said. “Tracking down these pieces is still our priority.”
The stolen artifacts included the golden helmet of Coțofenești and three golden bracelets from 450 BCE that date back to the ancient Dacians, who inhabited parts of the Balkan region.
The Cotofenesti helmet was made of solid gold, weighed a little over two pounds, and featured elaborate decoration, including large studies and a scene sacrificing a lamb. It also dated back to 450 BCE.
The artifacts were included in the traveling exhibition “Dacia – Empire of Gold and Silver” from the National History Museum of Romania, which had been on display at the Drents Museum since July 2024. The objects were stolen in the middle of the night on January 24, 2025.
RTV Drenthe previously reported that it had translated documents showing the value of the stolen helmet was €4.3 million ($4.9 million) and that the three stolen bracelets each had an estimated value of €500,000 ($568,000).
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said the stolen items were “of incalculable value” and Harry Tupan, the Drents Museum director, had called the theft a “dark day” in the institution’s history.
“We are intensely shocked by the events last night at the museum,” Tupan in a statement immediately after the theft. “In its 170-year existence, there has never been such a major incident.”
The Netherlands Police statement said after the arrest of the two suspects from Heerhugowaard, they would be taking those images offline and and requested everyone who shared the images to also remove them.
Prior to the arrests of the two suspects on April 23, Dutch police made three arrests on January 29, a fourth one in February, and a fifth on April 15. Four of these suspects are currently in custody.
In February, Bucharest-based Dutch businessman Alex van Breeman announced he was increasing the reward from €100,000 ($113,550 USD) to €250,000 ($284,870 USD) for valuable tips leading to the recovery of the stolen artifacts.