Five more arrested in Louvre jewel heist investigation
Experts warn that gold can be melted down and recut to erase the stones’ history.
Choreography of a four-minute crime
Important planning details come into focus. Nine days before the raid, thieves stole a truck-mounted elevator used by movers to reach upper floors after responding to a fake moving ad on the French classifieds site Leboncoin, Beccuau said Wednesday.
That day, the same vehicle sat idle under the riverside façade of the Louvre.
A soldier patrols the courtyard of the Louvre museum on Thursday.Credit: access point
At 9.30am he went up to the window of the Apollo Gallery; glass broken at 9.34am; By 9:38 the crew was gone. It was a four-minute strike.
Only the arrival of police and museum security “almost simultaneously” prevented the thieves from setting fire to the elevator and preserved important traces, the prosecutor said.
Security footage shows at least four men forcing a window, slashing two shop windows with power tools and fleeing east of Paris on two scooters. Investigators say there is no sign of inside help at this time, but they do not rule out a wider network beyond the four on camera.
Settlement through security
French police have acknowledged major gaps in the Louvre’s defences, turning a daring theft by visitors as they walked through the corridors into a national reckoning over how France protects its treasures.
Paris police chief Patrice Faure told senators that the first alert to police came not from the Louvre’s security systems but from a cyclist outside who dialed the emergency line after seeing helmeted men with basket lifts.
He acknowledged that obsolescence, partially analog cameras and slow corrections were leaving the seams.
The $93 million ($142 million) cabling work won’t be finished until 2029-30, and the Louvre’s camera mandate expired even in July. He said officers arrived quickly but the delay occurred earlier in the chain.
Speaking to the AP, former bank robber David Desclos described the heist as textbook and said he warned the Louvre about glaring security flaws in the design of the Apollo Gallery. The Louvre did not respond to the claim.
Who was blamed anyway?
Two suspects, aged 34 and 39, from Aubervilliers, north of Paris, were charged with theft by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy on Wednesday after being detained for nearly 96 hours. Beccuau said both made “minimalist” statements and “partially acknowledged” their involvement.
One was stopped at Charles-de-Gaulle Airport with a one-way ticket to Algiers; His DNA matched the scooter used in the escape.
DNA collected at the scene led to the arrest of a suspect.Credit: Getty Images
French law normally shrouds active investigations in secrecy to protect police work and the privacy of victims. Only the prosecutor can speak publicly, but in high-profile cases police unions occasionally share partial details.
The brazen smashing at the world’s most visited museum has stunned the heritage world. Four men, a forklift and a stopwatch turned the Apollo Gallery’s glint of gold and light into a crime scene and a test of how France protects what it values most.
