A man has been extradited from Morocco to Britain in connection with the country's biggest heist - the theft two years ago of £53 million from a cash depot in Kent, the Home Office said today.
Two suspected members of the gang that robbed the Securitas depot in February 2006, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, have been held in Morocco pending the outcome of extradition requests.
"We submitted extradition requests to Morocco. The Moroccan authorities have agreed to one of the requests and he is on his way back to the country," a Home Office spokesman said.
He said the other man was still being held in Morocco waiting the outcome of the extradition request.
Five men were jailed for a total of at least 70 years on Tuesday after being convicted of kidnapping and robbery in the so-called Securitas heist.
The robbers, some dressed as policemen and most wearing prosthetic disguises, snatched the record haul after getting past tight security by kidnapping the depot's manager, his wife and son at gunpoint in a crime described by the judge as "organised banditry".
They were also helped by "inside man" Ermir Hysenaj, who not only provided details of the building's interior layout and security protocols, but also secretly filmed it using a tiny camera hidden on his belt.
Despite the elaborate planning, the gang was rounded up by police within days of the February 2006 raid at the Securitas Depot in Tonbridge, Kent, after detectives received a tip-off.
Four members of the gang, Stuart Royle (49) - who refused to come to court - Jetmir Bucpapa (26), Lea Rusha (35), and Roger Coutts (30), were each sentenced to a minimum of 15 years' jail.