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Two men have been arrested in connection with last week’s audacious €88m theft at Paris’s Louvre Museum, with investigators uncovering a string of security failings that allowed one of the world’s most valuable art institutions to be raided in broad daylight
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 27 Oct 2025
The Louvre is one of the world’s most visited museums Credit: The Louvre
French authorities have arrested two suspects over the dramatic theft of crown jewels from the Louvre Museum in Paris in a heist valued at an estimated €88m (US$102m, £76m) that has exposed significant weaknesses in the museum’s security systems.
According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, one of the suspects was detained at Charles de Gaulle Airport as he prepared to board a flight to Algeria. The second was reportedly preparing to travel to Mali. DNA evidence found at the scene led investigators to at least one of the suspects, with specialist police now authorised to question them for up to 96 hours.
The theft occurred last Sunday morning when four masked assailants, equipped with power tools, broke into the museum’s Galerie d’Apollon - home to the French crown jewels - in an operation carried out over four minutes just after opening hours. The gang reportedly used a mechanical lift mounted on a vehicle to reach a first-floor balcony, cutting through a window before threatening guards and smashing two display cases.
Among the items stolen were jewels once belonging to Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III. Reports suggest the thieves left behind gloves and a high-visibility jacket, as well as the crown itself, which was dropped during the heist.
France’s justice minister described the theft as “a terrible image for the country”, admitting that “security protocols failed” at the world’s most-visited museum. A preliminary investigation has revealed major blind spots in the Louvre’s surveillance network, with one in three rooms in the affected area lacking CCTV coverage.
Museum director Laurence des Cars told French senators that the single exterior camera trained on the wall where the thieves gained access was “pointing away” from the balcony that led to the gallery. She added that the museum’s perimeter monitoring system was “ageing” and “ineffective”, allowing the gang to flee on two waiting scooters.
Experts believe that the stolen jewels may already have been dismantled. “Gold and silver can easily be melted down, and the gems can be recut into smaller stones that are almost impossible to trace,” art detective Arthur Brand told the BBC.
In the wake of the heist, French authorities have tightened security around major cultural institutions. The Louvre has since transferred several of its most valuable jewels to the Bank of France, where they are now secured in vaults located 26 metres below ground.
Museums and galleries
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