The arrest of a suspected jewel thief believed to be part of the infamous Pink Panther group is being hailed in Cyprus as a major breakthrough in attempts to further infiltrate the world’s most successful diamond-stealing gang.

Cypriot police have described the capture of the Balkan national by authorities at the Serbia-Macedonia border less than a week ago as a “major success”.

“This is a big catch,” said Limassol’s police spokesman, Marinos Vasilliou. “For any police force it is always an achievement to get a Pink Panther.”

The Serb, who is due to appear before a district court in the coastal town by Friday, was identified as Uros Maljkovic.

Described as “very cordial”, the 37-year-old was picked up on a European arrest warrant issued after three high-end jewellery shops were robbed in Limassol and the resort town of Paphos in the island’s Greek-run south. “He has been linked to DNA found on the site of both robberies in 2012 and 2013,” added Vasilliou. “We have wanted him for a long time. He has denied everything but is calm and collaborative.”

The Pink Panthers – so called because one robbery they conducted mirrored a raid in a Peter Sellers Inspector Clouseau film – are thought to have stolen jewels and diamonds worth €334m (£291m) in about 380 heists conducted between 1999 and 2015, according to Interpol. The audacious theft of three rings, worth more than £2m pounds, from an art fair at the Royal hospital Chelsea in May was attributed to a member of the gang.

The network’s success is such that for nearly a decade Interpol operated a special force tasked solely with tracking the group. Under the force’s Pink Panthers project, working conferences were held annually with the aim of exchanging information about an organisation said to operate as independent cells in more than 35 countries. Europol initiated its own follow-up Diamond project last year in an effort to stay one step ahead of criminal networks that it said were becoming ever more inventive in carrying out daring robberies and burglaries.

Maljovic would fit the mould of most Pink Panthers who originate from the former Yugoslavia and other countries in the western Balkans.

“He fits the profile perfectly,” said Giorgos Papasifakis, who formerly headed the police division tasked with investigating the criminal gang in Greece. “The older generation were mostly Serb paramilitaries who appeared during the Yugoslav wars,” he told the Guardian. “But 100% there is a new, younger generation who are out there now.”

Under Papasifakis’ watch five Pink Panthers were caught in Greece after robbing jewellery stores in late-night heists. “As opponents they were very organised, very professional, it was difficult not to admire their skill and speed,” he recalled. “You could say there was a mutual respect on both sides, but when the police did catch up with them it was also seen as a big success, one that even they recognised.”