It only took seven minutes for four men to carry out a robbery that shocked France. The most visited museum in Europe, the Louvre, and also one of the most watched, saw part of its history, represented by jewels, disappear in an escape through the streets of Paris. Now, almost all the police in the world have their eyes wide open
The attack on the Louvre Museum took place on Sunday morning and at lunchtime around the world. But it was only in the last few hours that the French authorities sent a communication, with information about the stolen jewels, to all the colleagues with whom they have relations, but not only. Interpol and Europol are also already on the ground. CNN Portugal knows that the Judiciary Police has already received this information and will act within its powers.
And what can the PJ do? Be more attentive to transactions, look for clues in your “information bags” and share information that may seem relevant, a source knowledgeable about the investigation process revealed to CNN Portugal. All police forces have trusted people, for example, in the international auctioneer circuit.
Based on the information it now has in its possession, the Judicial Police will be on the ground. The same source also explained that the fact that we are dealing with jewelry that can be easily dismantled and whose pieces have their own value, increases the need for speedy research, so that they are not lost forever. “A dismantled painting is worthless”, he concludes.
The audacious robbery, which took place at 9:30 am, with visitors already in the museum, was calculated in detail and everything went well until the moment of escape, when they ended up dropping the crown of Empress Eugénie – wife of Napoleon III. The group of four individuals fled the scene on scooters.
The thieves entered the Louvre museum from outside, using an external freight elevator that was positioned on a truck, next to a museum window – which did not have an alarm – and which was in an area under construction.
Two high-security armored display cases were broken using cutting and power tools, including a tiara and necklace worn by Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense. According to the Paris Prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, the robbers didn’t even have weapons, but they threatened the guards with angle grinders. The same source added that investigators do not exclude the hypothesis of foreign interference as a possible line of investigation into the robbery, but that they are keeping all leads open.
The French Interior Minister also stated that he believed that there was “clearly a team monitoring the site. It was obviously a very experienced team that acted very, very quickly.”
When they exited through the same window through which they entered, the robbers tried to set fire to the truck used to carry out the robbery, but were unable to do so because a security guard prevented the worst. And so the authorities continue to pay a lot of attention to this abandoned furniture elevator, positioned near a corner of the Louvre, with the staircase leading to a broken balcony window.
At this location, authorities found two angle grinders, a blowtorch, gasoline, gloves, a walkie-talkie, a blanket and a crown – the one that fell during the escape. As well, a few meters further on, a yellow vest used to disguise themselves as workers was also found.
At the time of the attack there were visitors inside the museum, but few realized what was happening and everyone was removed without incident.
One person who has little doubt that jewelry is in danger of disappearing is Christopher Marinello, founder of Art Recovery International. This expert believes that if the objective is just money – as quickly as possible – they can melt the precious metals or cut the stones. .
