Khaberni - The debate about the Pink Panthers gang, one of the most dangerous organized crime networks in the world, has resurfaced following suspicions of their involvement in the recent heist at the French Louvre Museum, where the famous "Apollo" gallery was targeted, housing rare jewels from the French royal heritage.
The thieves, who are believed to be members of the gang known for its boldness and military precision, carried out the operation disguised as maintenance workers using a maintenance crane to reach the upper floor of the museum, before they began breaking into the high-security glass display boxes with electric saws, stealing eight rare artifacts within just seven minutes.
The stolen items included a sapphire-studded crown and pieces of jewelry that belonged to 19th-century queens such as Marie Amelie and Hortense, in addition to a necklace and earrings from the set of Empress Marie Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte's wife, and a gilded crown and brooch of Empress Eugenie, all priceless pieces from the French imperial collection.
The French authorities fear that the thieves will melt down the jewels to obscure their identities before selling them on the black market, given their uniqueness and the difficulty in trading them.
In this regard, British security expert Will Geddes told the "Metro" newspaper that "the theft bears the clear fingerprints of the Pink Panthers," adding that the operation was "carried out with specific demand and professional planning," noting that the thieves moved "at nine thirty in the morning, in broad daylight, which reflects high confidence and extreme organization."
The Pink Panthers gang is known to include hundreds of members from Balkan countries such as Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia, many of whom are former soldiers with military training experience.
Interpol estimates the number of active members in the network around the world at about 800.
The gang has a long history of bold crimes; they carried out a diamond heist in 2003 worth 23 million British pounds from "Graff" in London, and targeted a museum in Switzerland in 2008 stealing paintings by "Monet," "Van Gogh," "Cezanne," and "Degas" valued over 119 million pounds.
On the other hand, the recent incident has ignited a wave of anger in official French circles, after the Justice Minister Gerald Darmanan acknowledged the "state's failure to protect a global cultural symbol," saying the incident "presented an unfortunate image of France," confirming significant lapses in the museum's security system.
A leaked report from the French regulatory authority revealed that a third of the rooms in the "Denton" wing, where the theft occurred, were completely devoid of cameras despite the museum's annual budget exceeding 280 million British pounds, the guards did not intervene in time, and the police did not immediately respond to the alarm.
While the investigation continues, there are increasing indications that the theft was not a random act, but a tightly executed operation by professionals who know every detail of the Louvre's security system, a scene that recalls the series of crimes that cemented the legend of the "Pink Panthers" as the most famous heist gang of the twenty-first century.
