MADRID (AP) — Police in Spain's Canary Islands said Thursday they arrested two Serbian men who allegedly are jewel thieves belonging to the notorious international gang known as the Pink Panthers.

The Civil Guard said in a statement they have issued European arrest warrants for other suspected gang members after gathering evidence from an apartment where the detained men were staying.

Police say the men allegedly took part in an armed robbery in September at a jewelry store on the island of Fuerteventura in the Spanish archipelago off west Africa. Three masked men burst into the store with guns and immobilized staff before swiftly rifling the display cases, taking the most expensive items in a "perfectly prepared" heist that lasted just a few minutes, the statement said.

Jewels and watches worth more than 1 million euros ($1.1 million) were stolen and recovered by police. The two men were placed under surveillance and arrested several days later.

The men used rented speedboats to travel between the islands and avoid detection. They planned to fly out of the Canary Islands with the loot by hiding it in false-bottomed suitcases or wearing it and saying the items were cheap Chinese imitations, according to police.

Interpol suspects the Pink Panther group is behind some 300 robberies in 35 countries since 1999. It is named after the 1963 movie starring Peter Sellers and is believed to be a loose network of around 800 criminals.