Episode 3

1990. In the midst of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. four masked men seize an elderly Lord in his home. Tying him up, they carry out an audacious £1m antiques heist – still reputed to be the biggest ever in Northern Ireland. Then they flee in a car and van. Rewards are offered, but to no avail. The gang – and the valuable antiques – are gone.A year later, the Lord’s son will disappear, lost at sea in Rhodes, Greece. Before he does, he reportedly sends a mysterious letter to Ireland. In it, a chart with strange markings and an even stranger message.Yet none of this is ever solved. Or even much remembered. Why?In this series former BBC reporter Gordon Adair, and podcast producer Ophelia Byrne, set out to find out. The story takes them on a rollercoaster ride, from paramilitary gangs to the Dublin underworld, and from island Greece to the glittering showrooms of the art and antiques world.Along the way, they explore how grassroots crime meets high end wealth – and how, far from a victimless crime, criminals seek to exploit the huge global trade in art, antiquities and other cultural objects to fuel serious criminal activity.