A suspected member of the storied “Pink Panther” ring of jewel thieves is being extradited to Japan from Spain on accusations he stole a $2 million diamond tiara in Tokyo three years ago, Spain's Interior Ministry and Japanese media said Saturday. Rifat Hadziahmetovic, 42, suspected of snatching the tiara and other jewelry from a downtown Tokyo store in 2007, was handed over to Japanese authorities Saturday prior to being transported to Japan, the Spanish ministry said in a statement. Hadziahmetovic, from the tiny country of Montenegro on the Adriatic Sea, was arrested in Cyprus last year on a separate charge of trying to leave the island using a fake passport. He was later extradited to Spain over a 2008 robbery on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The Spanish government agreed to hand him over to Japan, the ministry said. The Pink Panthers, named after the 1963 movie starring Peter Sellers as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau, are believed to be mainly from countries in the Balkans. The gang is believed to have more than 200 members and is characterized by swift robberies lasting less than three minutes, the statement said.
