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This newly rediscovered episode of History Daily originally aired on February 16th, 2022.

It's February 17th, 2003.

On an overcast Monday morning in Antwerp, Belgium,

a security guard approaches the front door of a large concrete building.

He punches in the entry code, unlocking a set of bulletproof glass doors,

and then steps inside the lobby of the Antwerp World Diamond Center.

This fortress-like building is the epicenter of the Antwerp Diamond District,

a one square mile section of the city where over 80% of the world's rough diamonds are cut,

polished, and sold. The security guard whistles as he crosses the lobby,

his shoes squeaking on the park a floor. Every day, millions of dollars worth of diamonds

are traded right here in the Diamond Center. And before being sold and shipped,

many of the diamonds are stored inside safe deposit boxes,

locked in a vault directly beneath this building.

That's where the security guard is going to make sure the vault is secure before the day's

trading begins, but the guard's not worried. The Diamond Center's vault is among the strongest

in the world. It's defended by 10 impregnable layers of security, including heat and motion

centers, Doppler radar, closed circuit TV cameras, and a lock with over 100 million possible

combinations. By passing just one of those layers of security is inconceivable. Overcoming all

of them is impossible. The security guard descends two floors in an elevator and emerges in the

...