Cellini Salt Cellar

A novice art thief climbed up the scaffolding outside Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum, crawled through a broken second-floor window, shattered a display case, and made off with one of the greatest Renaissance artifacts in the world while avoiding high-tech motion sensors and 24-hour security guards.
On May 11, 2003, a scandal erupted throughout Austria as a result of the early-morning theft of the gold-plated salt cellar, which was estimated to be worth £52 million.
- The intricate sculpture, measuring 25 cm (10 inches), of a trident-wielding Neptune was the work of renowned Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini.
The statue was practically unsellable even though it was worth millions of dollars because no reputable art dealer would handle it.
In January 2006, police detained 50-year-old Robert Mang, a security alarm specialist, and voracious sculpture collector, after the thief's two unsuccessful attempts to demand ransom.
- He quickly admitted what happened, saying that the theft was "rather spontaneous".
The Renaissance treasure was hidden in a wooded area 90 kilometers (55 miles) northeast of Vienna.
- Mang had secured the sculpture in a lead box and wrapped it in linen and plastic to prevent damage.
- Mang was given a four-year prison sentence in September 2006, but he was released early, in 2009.

On August 21, 1911, the renowned Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is taken from Paris's Louvre Museum, but it is found two years later when the criminals try to sell it.
On October 16, 2012, the Netherlands' Kunsthal Museum was broken into by a Romanian gang, who made off with seven masterpieces worth £19 million.

The Russia-Estonia Vodka Pipeline

From August to November 2004, a group of resourceful smugglers used a remarkable 2-km (114-mile) pipeline under the Kyrgyzstan River to smuggle massive amounts of vodka from Russia to Estonia in order to avoid paying taxes.
Vodka was much more expensive in Estonia, which had only recently joined the European Union on May 1, 2004, than it was in Russia.
Unfortunately, the smugglers were unable to locate even one customer for the illicit vodka in Tallinn, the nation's capital.
Finally, they unloaded it in Tartu, the second-largest city in Estonia.
Workers digging holes for trees found the pipeline along the bottom of a reservoir close to the border town of Narva, which led to the accidental discovery of the operation.
Customs officers shut down the pipeline and seized 1,400 liters (306 gallons) of the alcohol. Later on, in Tallinn, they also found a sizable amount of untaxed alcohol concealed in a truck.
According to estimates made by authorities, the group of 11 Russian and Estonian smugglers had already transported 7,450 liters (1,638 gallons) of vodka from Russia to Estonia when they were caught.
A second smuggling pipeline was found by Estonian police under the same river two years later, but it was closed down before any alcohol was brought into the European Union against the law.

On 1916, rum-runners sneak alcohol by boat from Windsor, Canada to Detroit, Michigan after the state of Michigan outlawed the selling of alcohol.
On August 12, 1998, a pipeline used to import alcohol from Latvia into Lithuania is discovered by Lithuanian police.
On January 6, 2014, 2,500 bottles worth between $150,000 and $200,000 are seized by Philadelphia police when they detain a local attorney for selling expensive wine illegally out of his home's basement.

A novice art thief climbed up the scaffolding outside Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum, crawled through a broken second-floor window, shattered a display case, and made off with one of the greatest Renaissance artifacts in the world while avoiding high-tech motion sensors and 24-hour security guards.
On May 11, 2003, a scandal erupted throughout Austria as a result of the early-morning theft of the gold-plated salt cellar, which was estimated to be worth £52 million.
- The intricate sculpture, measuring 25 cm (10 inches), of a trident-wielding Neptune was the work of renowned Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini.
The statue was practically unsellable even though it was worth millions of dollars because no reputable art dealer would handle it.
In January 2006, police detained 50-year-old Robert Mang, a security alarm specialist, and voracious sculpture collector, after the thief's two unsuccessful attempts to demand ransom.
- He quickly admitted what happened, saying that the theft was "rather spontaneous".
The Renaissance treasure was hidden in a wooded area 90 kilometers (55 miles) northeast of Vienna.
- Mang had secured the sculpture in a lead box and wrapped it in linen and plastic to prevent damage.
- Mang was given a four-year prison sentence in September 2006, but he was released early, in 2009.

On August 21, 1911, the renowned Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is taken from Paris's Louvre Museum, but it is found two years later when the criminals try to sell it.
On October 16, 2012, the Netherlands' Kunsthal Museum was broken into by a Romanian gang, who made off with seven masterpieces worth £19 million.

From August to November 2004, a group of resourceful smugglers used a remarkable 2-km (114-mile) pipeline under the Kyrgyzstan River to smuggle massive amounts of vodka from Russia to Estonia in order to avoid paying taxes.
Vodka was much more expensive in Estonia, which had only recently joined the European Union on May 1, 2004, than it was in Russia.
Unfortunately, the smugglers were unable to locate even one customer for the illicit vodka in Tallinn, the nation's capital.
Finally, they unloaded it in Tartu, the second-largest city in Estonia.
Workers digging holes for trees found the pipeline along the bottom of a reservoir close to the border town of Narva, which led to the accidental discovery of the operation.
Customs officers shut down the pipeline and seized 1,400 liters (306 gallons) of the alcohol. Later on, in Tallinn, they also found a sizable amount of untaxed alcohol concealed in a truck.
According to estimates made by authorities, the group of 11 Russian and Estonian smugglers had already transported 7,450 liters (1,638 gallons) of vodka from Russia to Estonia when they were caught.
A second smuggling pipeline was found by Estonian police under the same river two years later, but it was closed down before any alcohol was brought into the European Union against the law.

On 1916, rum-runners sneak alcohol by boat from Windsor, Canada to Detroit, Michigan after the state of Michigan outlawed the selling of alcohol.
On August 12, 1998, a pipeline used to import alcohol from Latvia into Lithuania is discovered by Lithuanian police.
On January 6, 2014, 2,500 bottles worth between $150,000 and $200,000 are seized by Philadelphia police when they detain a local attorney for selling expensive wine illegally out of his home's basement.