Louvre Museum Heist Involves Local Criminals, Not Organized Crime

Mon Nov 03 2025 04:34:07 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Authorities reveal that the recent theft of jewelry from the Louvre Museum was executed by petty criminals from the Seine-Saint-Denis area, challenging assumptions of high-level orchestration.

Paris's prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, stated that the Louvre heist, which resulted in the theft of jewels worth €88 million, was carried out by local individuals rather than professional criminals. Four suspects have been arrested from the impoverished region of Seine-Saint-Denis, raising concerns about security at cultural institutions as investigators continue to search for the stolen items.

Last month's jewellery heist at the Louvre museum was carried out by petty criminals rather than organised crime professionals, Paris's prosecutor has said.

This is not quite everyday delinquency... but it is a type of delinquency that we do not generally associate with the upper echelons of organised crime, Laure Beccuau told franceinfo radio.

She said four people arrested and charged so far over the theft that shocked France and the world were clearly local people living in Seine-Saint-Denis, an impoverished area just north of Paris.

Jewels worth €88m (£76m; $102m) were taken from the most-visited museum, in the French capital, on 19 October.

In Sunday's interview to franceinfo radio, Beccuau said the four arrested people - three men and a woman - all live more or less in Seine-Saint-Denis.

She said two of the male suspects had been known to the police, as they each had multiple theft convictions.

On Saturday, a 38-year-old woman was charged with complicity in organised theft and criminal conspiracy with a view to committing a crime.

Separately, a man, aged 37, was charged with theft and criminal conspiracy.

The suspects - who have not been publicly named - both denied any involvement.

Investigators believe four men carried out the daylight theft, and one of them is still on the run.

Three other people detained earlier this week have been released without charge.

On the day of the heist, the suspects arrived at 09:30 local time, just after the museum opened to visitors, using a stolen vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to gain access. They used a disc cutter to crack open display cases housing the jewellery.

Prosecutors said the thieves were inside for four minutes and escaped on scooters before switching to cars. One of the stolen items - a crown - was dropped during the escape, while the other seven jewels remain unaccounted for.

Security measures have since been tightened around cultural institutions in France, with the Louvre transferring some of its most precious jewels to the Bank of France following the heist.