One year after Louvre heist, stolen jewels remain missing

Paris, October 19

One year after a daring robbery at the Louvre Museum in Paris, the four main suspects are in custody awaiting trial, but investigators have yet to recover the stolen crown jewels, valued at an estimated $100 million.

The thieves, disguised as construction workers, broke into the museum on October 19 last year using industrial disc cutters and escaped with eight historic items, including a brooch and crown belonging to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.

French President Emmanuel Macron described the robbery as an attack on France’s history.

Despite an extensive investigation, police have found no clear leads on the whereabouts of the jewels. All four suspects were arrested within 10 days of the heist, and investigators have searched their homes, relatives’ residences, cellars, garages and attics without success.

Experts interviewed by AFP believe the best chance of recovering the treasures lies in determining whether the suspects acted independently and hid the jewels somewhere in the Paris region.

Interrogation may offer a breakthrough

The last known sighting of the jewels was on CCTV footage recorded in an underground storage facility in Aubervilliers, a northern suburb of Paris where the suspects live.

Arthur Brand, a Dutch private art detective, said there was still a chance that one of the suspects could reveal the location of the jewels in exchange for a reduced sentence.

“The French police are very professional, they know how to interrogate, they know how to put pressure on someone,” Brand told AFP, adding that it often takes only one suspect to disclose information.

However, investigators remain concerned that the robbery may have been organised by a criminal ringleader or intermediary who took possession of the jewels after the theft.

Corrado Catesi, head of Interpol’s stolen art unit, said organised crime networks have the connections needed not only to carry out thefts but also to transfer and sell stolen objects.

Two suspects have reportedly claimed that a ringleader was involved in the operation, although investigators remain sceptical of those claims, according to a source close to the case cited by AFP.

Jewels may have been dismantled

Experts fear that if the stolen items were handed to organised crime networks, the jewels may have been transported abroad or passed to contacts in the underground precious-stones market.

Because the items contain diamonds, one possibility is that the stones have been removed, recut and sold separately.

Brand identified Antwerp, Belgium, a major international diamond-trading centre, as one possible destination. Other potential destinations include Tel Aviv and India, according to Christopher Marinello of Art Recovery International.

Tobias Kormind, managing director of online diamond retailer 77 Diamonds, told AFP that recut stones could re-enter the legitimate supply chain through wholesalers and retailers.

He added that even leading diamond laboratories could struggle to identify a stolen diamond after it had been recut and polished, unless it had distinctive internal features.

Experts say recovery remains possible

Despite the concerns, experts say the recovery of the jewels cannot be ruled out.

Brand cited previous cases in which stolen jewellery was recovered, including a robbery at the TEFAF art fair in the Netherlands in 2022 and a break-in at the Green Vault museum in Dresden, Germany, in 2019.

He said there was still a possibility that someone involved in the Louvre robbery could disclose the location of the treasures before the trial.

The stolen jewels remain listed in Interpol’s database of missing artworks.

According to Catesi, the recovery of stolen objects can take anywhere from three months to 40 years, leaving open the possibility that the Louvre treasures could eventually be found.

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