Khaberni - Surveillance camera footage revealed detailed images of a bold heist at the Louvre Museum, carried out in minutes and during which jewelry worth 76 million pounds was stolen.
Surveillance camera footage captured the moment thieves broke into display cases inside the Louvre Museum and stole jewelry valued at about 76 million pounds, after smashing the display cabinets and raiding their contents in broad daylight.
The video, lasting one minute and broadcast on the French news program «Sept à Huit», documented two masked thieves boldly breaking the protective glass of the display cabinets and then taking the jewelry.
The recording shows one of the thieves using his forearm to smash the cracked glass, before reaching inside the cabinet to grab three valuable pieces, which he then hides inside an inner pocket beneath his reflective jacket. He then picks up his bag, which was placed amid the shards of broken glass, and quickly leaves the scene.
Paris Chief Prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, stated that investigations have so far yielded no new elements, affirming at the same time that recovering the jewelry remains a top priority for the authorities.
On the morning of the theft, the thieves stopped a truck equipped with an extendable ladder underneath the Apollo Gallery, which houses the French crown jewels. Two of them climbed the ladder, broke a window, and used cutting tools to open the display cabinets, while the others waited below.
Beccuau mentioned that the operation was carried out by small-time criminals, not professionals affiliated with major criminal gangs. It was later revealed by the Louvre’s administration that the only camera monitoring the hall was directed away from the balcony used by the thieves to enter.
After the heist, the thieves fled on high-speed motorcycles, dropping a diamond and emerald-studded crown during their escape, while eight other pieces remain missing, including an emerald and diamond necklace gifted by Napoleon I to his second wife Empress Marie Louise.
The prosecution affirmed that the investigations do not rule out any hypothesis regarding the whereabouts of the stolen items, noting that there are no indications so far of them being smuggled outside France.
For her part, the President of the Louvre Museum, Laurence des Cars, acknowledged institutional shortcomings, but denied neglecting security aspects, confirming that she has called for increased investments in the museum’s security since taking office in 2021.
Following the incident, authorities heightened security measures in French cultural institutions, and the Louvre Museum transferred some of its most valuable jewels to the Bank of France for safekeeping.
