Expanse

When a ship called the Blythe Star disappeared without a trace in 1973, it kicked off the largest sea and air search Australia had ever seen.  

Ten men were left clinging to life in an emergency raft, at the mercy of the wind and currents. In the days to come they were pushed to the extremes of endurance.  

Imagine finding a diamond in your roof? Unexplained diamonds have turned up in odd places, but the tech has come a long way since our heist and scientists can now figure out where they come from. Diamonds are the ultimate stealth wealth but tracing is making it tougher for thieves. Our Argyle diamonds went on a wild ride but in the end, some were recovered. Why have they reappeared all these years later and where is the rest of the multi-million dollar haul?

Our less than smooth criminals managed to out-fox and outlast their police pursuers for about four years, helped by suspect dealings. How did they manage it? Was it in fact the ultimate inside job? This time we dive deep into the bent security guard, the mouthy crook and the dodgy coppers as numerous investigations try to put a full stop to this crime. From the remote Argyle mine to the ateliers of Europe, this heist required brains, bluster and bravado to pull it off. 

What would you do if you found your husband washing diamonds in the sink? For the woman at the centre of our story this was a life changing moment. How did Lynette go from lipstick sales to diamond courier?

How do you pull off the perfect heist? Would you believe there's actually a recipe for it? While some heists are of Mission Impossible proportions, our caper is a little more domestic. Less motion sensors, infrared beams and seismic instruments; more shampoo bottles, kitchen sieves and lipstick. But what it lacked in high tech it made up for in sheer daring. So what goes into the anatomy of a heist and how did ours get started?

In all my years of journalism, there is one story that's stuck with me. Twenty years ago I was out bush chatting to diamond explorers about a heist that happened in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia. I couldn't believe it when some of these diamonds recently turned up in my hometown of Perth. Buckle in because it seems everyone wants to know more about what really went on, even those that had a front-row seat.

It's a heist of grand proportions, and a story straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster. Millions of dollars of diamonds smuggled out of the remote Kimberley, in Western Australia then around the world. But the diamonds weren't lost to the eighties when this heist happened, the stolen gems are back in circulation. On Pink Diamond Heist: how did no-one notice diamonds were being smuggled out of the world's most secure mine? Who were the culprits behind this multi-million dollar heist? And where are the stolen diamonds now?