Overview
- The October 19, 2025 theft took eight pieces of French crown jewellery worth about €88 million from the Galerie d'Apollon at the Louvre.
- Two suspects, identified in press reports as Abdoulaye N. and Ghelamallah A., told judges they were recruited two to three days before the raid, shown a filmed tour of the gallery, promised pay of €15,000–€25,000, and used a furniture lift, a smashed window, and a power cutter to seize the items.
- Both men said they handed most of the haul to an unnamed sponsor in an underground car park in Aubervilliers and that the sponsor complained they “could have taken more,” with low-quality CCTV said to show a suspect handling jewellery there.
- Paris investigators say they have not confirmed anyone beyond the arrested suspects, report no clear digital links to a wider ring, and have lost the physical trail where the handoff reportedly occurred so the jewels remain unlocated.
- The case prompted the Louvre director’s resignation and tighter security, including moving high-value items to the Bank of France, while experts warn the gems could be dismantled and sold and the suspects refuse to name others because they fear reprisals for themselves and their families.