Paris heist targeting Kim Kardashian latest in a long line of famous gem thefts

KIM Kardashian’s terrifying ordeal at the hands of armed robbers in Paris is the latest in a string of high-profile jewel heists aimed at famous targets.

Kim Kardashian West was unharmed during the terrifying incident but was said to be “badly shaken”. Picture: Lionel Cironneau/AP

BOUND at gunpoint and robbed of an estimated $14 million worth of jewellery, Kim Kardashian was reportedly “badly shaken” by last night’s Paris attack.

The terrifying experience puts her in an elite club of high-profile victims of major jewel heists that includes rapper Drake and the Cannes film festival.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are seen in Tribeca in New York City the day after she was robbed at gunpoint in Paris. Picture: Splash News

RAP ATTACK

Flashing bling has gotten other celebrities in trouble, too. A reported $US3 million ($3.9 million) worth of jewellery was taken from a tour bus being used by Hotline Bling rapper Drake and DJ Future the Prince while they were performing earlier this year in the US city of Phoenix. According to police, the suspect had removed a briefcase containing the jewellery in a window of 15 minutes while the performers were on stage. Police later recovered the goods by identifying a suspect through surveillance footage.

Rapper Drake had a reported $US3 million ($3.9 million) worth of jewellery taken from a tour bus earlier this year. Picture: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

CANNES CAPER

Cannes is known not only for its film festival glamour but also for police drama.

In 2013 thieves stole Chopard jewellery from a hotel room safe during the festival, a crime that drew parallels to Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring, which was screening that year.

Two months later, a lone gunman pulled off one of the biggest jewellery heists of all time, stealing $US136 million worth of diamond jewellery from Cannes’ Carlton Hotel — a location for Alfred Hitchcock’s classic To Catch a Thief. In 2015, raiders — one wearing an old-man mask — walked into the Cartier boutique on Cannes’ Croisette seaside promenade in the middle of the morning, and walked out with millions of dollars’ worth of jewellery and watches.

In 2009, two elegantly dressed men robbed a jewellery store in central London before making off with 43 pieces of jewellery including rings, bracelets, necklaces and watches. Picture: AP

AIRPORT HEISTS

In a carefully planned 2013 theft, thieves cut through a fence at the Brussels airport, drove to a Switzerland-bound plane and snatched an estimated $US50 million in diamonds.

In 2005, thieves threatened guards and hijacked an armoured car from Dutch carrier KLM’s cargo ramp at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, a major European transport hub making off with millions in diamonds and jewellery. Subsequent media reports put the value of the loot at up to $US100 million. “It was a secured area of the airport, so it’s a big question how those people could get there,” an airline spokesman said at the time.

GENTLEMEN THIEVES

In 2009, two elegantly dressed men robbed the Graff Diamond Store in London’s high-end Mayfair district and carried away necklaces, watches, rings and bracelets worth more than 40 million pounds ($US62 million at today’s exchange rate), according to Scotland Yard.

While Christmas shoppers stroll outside the posh Harry Winston jewellery shop near Paris’ famed Champs Elysees in 2008, armed thieves — some dressed as women and wearing wigs — entered the store and stole gems and jewelled watches worth up to $US85 million, according to French police.