

An armed man has stolen about $53 million worth of jewels from the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in the French Riviera resort of Cannes, BBC reports.

The hotel, located on the exclusive Promenade de la Croisette, was hosting a summer jewelry exhibit from the prestigious Leviev diamond house, which is owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev.

Local media reported that the robber carried the jewels away in a briefcase shortly before noon.

"A full and urgent operation is under way to catch the culprit and recover these jewels," a Cannes police spokesman said. "Thieves see Cannes as rich pickings."

In May, during the famous Cannes Film Festival, thieves stole about $1 million in jewels  from a hotel room and a necklace worth $2.6 million from a hotel party.

Coincidentally, a Bosnian from the "Pink Panther" gang of international jewel thieves escaped from a Swiss prison after a dramatic operation involving a van ramming through a gate, ladders used to get above barbed wire, and gunfire from automatic weapons.

Milan Poparic is the third "Pink Panther" to escape from a Swiss prison since May.

BBC notes that the Carlton Hotel is where Alfred Hitchcock filmed "To Catch A Thief"  — his 1955 film about a jewel thief operating in the French Riviera.