French police detained a man identified as Abdoulaye N and former security guard Pompidou Centersuspected of participating in the theft of historical jewels valued at €88 million euros and Apollo galleryat the Louvre Museum, advances the “The Guardian”.
Known online as Doudou Cross Bitumenthe 39-year-old published stunt videos with motorcyclestraining tips and content that earned him some notoriety on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. According to the “The Parisian” and the broadcaster “BFMTV”Abdoulaye was arrested at home in Aubervilliers six days after the robbery and faces charges of organized robbery e criminal conspiracy.
Connection to crime and public profile
The French press reveals that Abdoulaye’s DNA was found in one of the showcases and in objects abandoned at the site, including a reflective vest, gloves and disc cutters. Authorities suspect that the influencer was one of the two robbers who physically entered the gallery. Neighbors describe him as a well-known figure in the neighborhood, passionate about motorbikes and emotionally unstable, but “helpful” and “correct”.
In the published videos, Abdoulaye frequently appears driving a Yamaha TMaxthe same model of mega-scooter used in the escape. Its motto, repeated in various content — “Always closer to the asphalt” (“Increasingly glued to the asphalt”)— became his digital signature.
Background and professional path
The suspect worked for UPS, Toys R Us and as security at the Pompidou Center Museum of Modern Art. There’s a criminal record with 15 offences, including drug trafficking and transport, driving without a license and endangering others. He was also convicted of robbing a jewelry store in 2014. One of the other suspects in the Louvre robbery had already served time for the same crime, 11 years ago.
The assault
O theftdescribed by authorities as “audacious and meticulously planned”involved four men who used a stolen truck equipped with an extension ladder and lifting platform to reach a window on the first floor of the Apollo gallery. Two people entered the building, broke an unlocked window and destroyed glass display cases before taking the elevator down and fleeing on motorcycles driven by their accomplices. The operation lasted less than seven minutes.
Among the eight stolen jewelry There is an emerald and diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave to his second wife, Maria Luísa, and a diadem with 212 pearls and almost two thousand diamonds belonging to Empress Eugénia, wife of Napoleon III. The pieces are still missing.