The man said to be one of the brains behind the theft of €70 million worth of diamonds at Schiphol airport in 2005 has been arrested on the Spanish island of Ibiza, the Telegraaf reported on Wednesday.

Errol H V was jailed for 9.5 years in absentia in 2021 for his role in the biggest heist in Dutch history by appeal court judges. He had disappeared in 2020 after he was released from jail to wait for his appeal.

Sources close to H V told the paper he had been picked up on the island where he had been living for some time by Spanish police, although this has not been officially confirmed. Nor has an extradition date been set.

Seven people were arrested in Spain and Amsterdam in 2017 in connection with the heist after a long undercover operation. Two years later, four were jailed, two were found not guilty and one had died.

HV was given a seven-year jail term but in 2020 he and the other gang members were released from jail and allowed to wait for their appeals in freedom.

Marlon D, who actually committed the theft with H V, was arrested in Amsterdam last December, the Telegraaf said.

The theft took place on February 25, 2005 when armed robbers dressed as KLM staff hijacked an armoured car in a secure area of Schiphol airport and stole uncut diamonds said to be worth more than $72m. The diamonds were about to be loaded onto a plane and flown to Belgium.

Part of the diamond haul was recovered from a getaway car but the majority of the gems are still missing.