German police on Tuesday arrested three suspects over the spectacular heist a year ago in which more than a dozen diamond-encrusted items were seized from a state museum in Dresden. The investigators have also started raiding 18 properties in Berlin, including 10 apartments as well as garages and vehicles. More than 1,600 police officers from across Germany were involved in the raid.

“The measures today are focused on the search for the stolen art treasures and possible evidence, such as storage media, clothing and tools,” they said.

Thieves broke into Dresden’s Grünes Gewölbe, known as the Green Vault in English, on November 25, 2019, stealing three priceless sets of 18th-century jewelry within minutes. They then fled in a car that they later torched.

The museum, situated in Dresden Castle, houses one of Europe’s biggest treasure collections. It was founded between 1723 and 1729 by Augustus the Strong to publicly display his collection of treasures, making it one of the world’s oldest museums. The stolen during the heist included the famous 49-carat Dresden White Diamond, priceless 18th-century jewellery from the collection of the Saxon ruler August the Strong.