In a plot that sounds straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster, two suspects have been nabbed in connection with a brazen $100 million heist of France’s crown jewels from the Louvre Museum.
The New York Post reported that last Sunday, a daring four-man crew pulled off the theft at the Apollo Gallery in Paris, and while two were arrested on October 25, two others remain on the loose with the priceless treasures still missing.
The heist unfolded with audacious flair as the thieves, disguised in yellow vests and motorcycle helmets, scaled the gallery using a cherry picker and smashed into displays with chainsaws.
In under four minutes, they snatched eight pieces of France’s crown jewels, including a sapphire diadem, necklace, and treasures linked to 19th-century queens, before speeding off on scooters.
Adding insult to injury, they even tried to torch the cherry picker during their getaway, leaving behind a trail of chaos and a damaged imperial crown with over 1,300 diamonds, which was later found outside the museum.
Fast forward to October 25, and police, acting on a tip, caught one suspect at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport attempting to flee to Algeria, while the second was apprehended in the city shortly after.
Both men, in their 30s and hailing from a suburb north of Paris, are no strangers to law enforcement, with past robbery records and suspicions they acted on someone’s orders.
Detained at police headquarters for up to 96 hours without charges, they’re under investigation for organized gang robbery and conspiracy, while investigators comb through 150 traces of DNA, fingerprints, and hair from the scene.
The stolen jewels, worth a staggering $100 million, remain unrecovered except for that battered crown, leaving France’s cultural heritage at risk and security questions mounting.
A preliminary report, due next month, paints a grim picture of the Louvre’s defenses, pointing to outdated video surveillance and slashed security budgets compared to two decades ago.
Museum officials, clearly rattled, have since moved the remaining crown jewels to a fortified Bank of France vault, while security tightens around cultural sites nationwide.
France’s Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, took to X to praise the police, saying, “I extend my warmest congratulations to the investigators who have worked tirelessly as I requested and who have always had my full confidence.”
But let’s be honest—congratulations seem premature when half the crew and most of the loot are still out there, and one wonders if political posturing is overshadowing the real work needed to recover these national treasures.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau cautioned against premature leaks, stating, “This revelation can only hinder the investigative efforts of the 100 or so mobilised investigators, both in the search for the stolen jewellery and for all the perpetrators.”
She’s got a point—loose lips could sink this ship, but the public deserves transparency without the progressive spin that often clouds these high-profile cases; after all, it’s our history on the line, not just a headline.
