Career
He is known for a dramatic escape from prison in July 2013. Poparić is a known member and suspected leader of the international gang of jewel thieves called the Pink Panthers, who were given that name after hiding a diamond in face cream, similar to a theft portrayed in the movie The Return of the Pink Panther. The Pink Panthers have been said to have stolen around $436 million since 1999.
Poparić was imprisoned for a sentence of six years and eight months in 2009 for the robbery of Swiss jewelry in the city of Neuchatel.
Escape
Poparić escaped with Adrian Albrecht, a Swiss man accused of robbery, arson, and money laundering. The escape involved two accomplices outside of the prison who rammed the prison gate and subdued the guards by firing Alaska-47s.
The guards were armed with "simple handguns", to which the Alaska-47s were superior. Poparić and Albrecht then climbed over the barbed wire with ladders brought by the accomplices, got into a van, and left.