International wine thieves - 8th May 2023

A Spanish court has sentenced a couple to four and a half years in prison for stealing over 1.6 million euros in wine.

The robbery took place in a high-end restaurant in western Spain back in October 2021. One of the hotel proprietors woke to find 45 bottles of wine missing from the cellar. One bottle, a 217 year old Château d'Yquem, was worth an approximate 350 thousand euros.

Authorities said the suspects, a former beauty queen from Mexico and a Dutch-Romanian man, carefully planned the robbery. The boozy burglars visited Atrio multiple times before the woman, Priscila Lara Guevara, made a reservation using a fake Swiss passport.

The night of the theft, the couple had dined on a fourteen course meal at the restaurant and taken a tour of the wine cellar before Priscila called for room service at 2am. Her late night snack caused the welcome desk to be left unattended. In the meantime, her partner, Constantín Dumitru, swiped the keycard from reception.

When Dumitru tried to access the cellar, he discovered he'd stolen the wrong card. Guevara called room service again, and this time, her accomplice grabbed the right key. After stuffing dozens of bottles and four hotel towels into a backpack and two sports bags, the couple fled before sunrise.

After nine months on the run, the partners in crime were arrested attempting to cross the border from Montenegro to Croatia.

During the trial, Dumitru pleaded not guilty. His lawyer defended him saying, "forty-five bottles and four towels do not fit in two sports bags and could not be carried so lightly by this man". Priscila remained silent throughout the proceedings.

The court found the couple guilty of aggravated robbery. They'll serve time in jail and pay insurers 750 thousand euros in damages. However, their sentence isn't final, as the couple will have a chance to appeal the decision.