The lightning robbery that shocked Paris and resulted in the theft of historical jewels valued at around 88 million euros from the Louvre Museum was not the work of an organized crime group, but rather of local criminals, revealed this Sunday, November 2, the Paris prosecutor, Laure Beccuau.
The coup, which took place in broad daylight two weeks ago, looked like a sophisticated scene worthy of a Hollywood thriller, but, according to French authorities, the way it was carried out and the mistakes left behind tell a different story.
Two men parked a truck with a lift next to the museum, went up to the second floor, broke a window and opened the display cases with angle grinders. In less than seven minutes, they fled on a motorbike with two accomplices.
Three of the four suspects are now in custody, but the jewelry, including Empress Eugénia’s crown, made of gold, emeralds and diamonds, remains missing.
“This is not common crime, but it also does not have the profile of high-level organized crime,” Beccuau explained to the radio Franceinfo, cited by the Reuters agency. “They are clearly local people. They all live, more or less, in Seine-Saint-Denis,” he added, referring to the poor suburb north of Paris.