He is a colossus of one meter ninety-two, with black eyes, become a master in the art of robbery.
From London to Tokyo via Place Vendôme, Milan Ljepoja and his “Pink Panthers” have robbed the displays of luxury jewelry stores, stolen for tens of millions of euros from the beards of local authorities.
A seasoned robber, the Serbian led his army of thieves in the biggest heists of the 2000s. Operations without a shot, without a victim, without a burr… The signature of a gang that collects international arrest warrants.
Very active in Europe, Milan Ljepoja may well rob Swiss and French jewelers, he does make some mistakes.
Thanks to traces of his DNA taken from his crime scenes, he was caught in Liechtenstein and imprisoned in a prison in the small principality.
His stay will be short.
When he is transferred to the hospital with a wrist injury, his accomplices attack the convoy like a stagecoach.
Ljepoja escapes and goes on the run, determined to resume service.
Read also The appalling end of one of the brains of the Pink Panthers gang
On April 15, 2007, Milan produced his masterpiece. With three acolytes, he arrives in a shopping mall in Dubai at the wheel of two stolen Audi. The foot crushed on the accelerator pedal, the commando rushes in reverse in the front door, goes out to point the guards, burst the windows to the mass and collect the maximum number of rings and necklaces in large pockets sewn on. their clothes. The attack lasts less than three minutes, the Pink Panthers leave with 11 million euros in loot.
This success will however mark the end of Milan Ljepoja's career. In May 2008, Swiss police officers mobilized on another theft case recognized his face in the lobby of a hotel in Gex (Ain), near Geneva jewelry stores. He was arrested once again by the French gendarmes who sent him back to detention: he went to the prison of Health in Paris. Claimed by the United Arab Emirates for his exploits in Dubai, his lawyer will save him a complicated extradition. Milan Ljepoja will do his time in the shade before returning to Serbia and his hometown of Nis.
His return to the country will immerse him in a violence that the life of a robber had allowed him to avoid.
As he enters the drug trade, rival gangs wage a merciless struggle.
His presence disturbs.
Ljepoja is taken to a sordid house on the outskirts of Belgrade where he is tortured.
For several hours and several nights, his rivals put him through an ordeal.
They end up killing him, dismembering him and dissolving his body in acid.
End of story for Milan Ljepoja.
Find his story in the video above.
Le Parisien launches “Crime Story”, his new video series
This Tuesday, October 12, Le Parisien is launching a new video series dedicated to major criminal cases.
Twice a month, Damien Delseny, Head of the Police-Justice department, will explore the great figures of crime who have marked the news.
In a 5-minute format, he will tell the riddles, the disappearances, the "cold cases", the story of great robbers as well as of the great escapes that have hit the headlines.
The first pilot will be dedicated to the “Pink Panthers”, the biggest jewelry robbers in the world.
“Crime Story” will be broadcast on Le Parisien's website, on YouTube, Dailymotion, Facebook and Instagram.
Snapchat has also selected this program to distribute it on its platform.
This is the third series launched by the “Parisien” video division, after the successful launches of “Food Checking” and “Biclou”.
The “Parisien” video team brings together around twenty journalists and professions linked to video.
With a new organization and a high-quality video news, reports and series offer, "Le Parisien" saw its audiences double in 2021 and today reaches 60 million videos viewed on average per month, more than 600,000 subscribers on the channel. YouTube du Parisien and nearly 200,000 on Snapchat.