Wine theft of the century

 

紅酒世紀竊案

【摘要2022.9.17.六.自由】◎周虹汶

A former Mexican beauty queen and a Romanian-Dutch accomplice have been arrested in Croatia over the theft of $1.7 million worth of prestige bottles of wine in Spain after a nine-month chase across Europe, police said on Wednesday.

警方週三表示，歷經9個月橫跨歐洲的追捕後，一位墨西哥前選美皇后和一位羅馬尼亞裔的荷蘭共犯因為在西班牙竊取價值170萬美元的高檔紅酒，在克羅埃西亞被捕。

In a statement, Spanish national police said that on Oct. 27, 2021 in the western city of Caceres, 45 wine bottles worth a total of 1.65 million euros, including one "unique" 19th-century vintage worth 310,000 euros, were spirited away in a meticulously planned theft from the cellars of the famous hotel-restaurant El Atrio.

西班牙國家警察在聲明中說，2021年10月27日在西部城市卡塞雷斯，45瓶價值165萬歐元的紅酒，當中包括一瓶「獨一無二」、要價31萬歐元的19世紀佳釀，在一場精心策劃的竊案中從知名旅店餐館El Atrio的酒窖中被竊走。

新聞辭典

spirited away/off：偷走、神不知鬼不覺地帶走。例句： Her little son was spirited away.(她的小兒子被帶走了。)

vintage：名詞，名牌或優良葡萄酒、某年收成的葡萄。例句：This kind of wine is of the vintage of 1960. （這種葡萄酒是用1960年的葡萄釀造的。）

master key：萬能鎖匙。例句：The locker was opened with a station staff master key.（儲物櫃被車站工作人員的萬能鎖匙打開了。）

Police investigators believe the woman, a 29-year-old Mexican, who according to Spanish daily El Pais had competed in a beauty pageant in her homeland, distracted El Atrio waiters by ordering room service from the Michelin-starred restaurant after its kitchen had closed.

警方調查人員相信，這名29歲、西班牙國家報稱她曾參加家鄉選美比賽的墨西哥女子，在這家米其林星星餐廳的廚房打烊後，藉由要求客房服務而分散了El Atrio的服務生的注意力。

Meanwhile, her 47-year-old male accomplice slipped down to the wine cellar, opened it with a master key he had stolen during a prior visit, and filled three backpacks with the bottles, wrapping them in hotel room towels for protection, according to the police statement.

根據警方聲明，在此同時，她的47歲的男性共犯滑下酒窖，用上次造訪該餐廳所竊得的萬能鑰匙打開酒窖，裝滿了3個背包的紅酒瓶，還用旅館房間毛巾包覆它們當作保護。