Editor’s Note
This report details the formal charges brought against two individuals following their arrest in Aubervilliers. The case involves serious allegations of organized theft.
Two men, known to the police for thefts and residing in Aubervilliers, were apprehended on Saturday after an intense manhunt. They were formally charged on Wednesday evening for “organized gang theft and criminal conspiracy.”
Ten days after the Louvre heist, which had worldwide repercussions and an estimated loot of 88 million euros, the jewels have not been recovered. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau stated this at a press conference on Wednesday.
Two of the four suspects, apprehended on the evening of October 25, were charged on Wednesday evening after being presented to a judge for “organized gang theft and criminal conspiracy.”
in the burglary to investigators. Originating from Seine-Saint-Denis, the two men are suspected of being the individuals who entered the Apollo Gallery wearing yellow vests. They were known to police services, particularly for thefts.
The first suspect, aged 34 and of Algerian nationality, resided in Aubervilliers. He told investigators he worked as a delivery driver. His criminal record shows traffic offenses and a conviction for theft. The second, aged 39, also resided in and was originally from this Seine-Saint-Denis commune. An illegal taxi driver, then a delivery driver, he was known for aggravated thefts. According to the Paris prosecutor, he was under judicial supervision in a case of “aggravated theft,” for which he is due to be tried next November by the Bobigny court.
The two accused were identified by investigators thanks to DNA traces found for one on a scooter, and for the other on the display cases of the Apollo Gallery as well as on objects found by police after their escape. The investigation, entrusted to the BRB (Brigade for the Repression of Banditry) and the Central Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Cultural Property (OCBC), continues to mobilize about a hundred investigators to find the other criminals.
of a group much larger than four individuals, the prosecutor specified. However,
she added.
Around 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 19, the commando members had positioned a lift truck at the foot of the museum on the Quai François-Mitterrand. Two of them, with masked faces and wearing yellow vests, raised themselves in a basket up to the sumptuous Apollo Gallery. After breaking a window and the display cases containing the jewels using angle grinders, the thieves left with eight jewels barely seven minutes later, aboard two T-Max scooters driven by their accomplices. Among these still-missing jewels is the necklace from the sapphire parure of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense. During their escape, the burglars dropped a ninth jewel, a crown of Empress Eugénie, set with 1,354 diamonds, 113 roses, and 56 emeralds, later found by investigators along with equipment used by the commando. The jewel was damaged and will need restoration.
During the investigation, the use of video surveillance allowed investigators to trace the criminals’ route before and after the burglary. According to the Paris prosecutor, the four individuals had met at a
on the morning of the heist to change vehicles. They then used the same stratagem once the loot was stolen and headed towards the east of Paris before vanishing.
Since the beginning of the investigation, over 150 samples of DNA, fingerprint, and other traces have been taken at the burglary scene. 189 sealed evidence items have been collected at the theft site and during searches.
who
Laure Beccuau insisted.
For his part, the new Paris police prefect, Patrice Faure, said on Wednesday he was
to the establishment of a police station within the Louvre Museum, a request made by Louvre president Laurence des Cars after the jewel theft. Already on Sunday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez had
Laurence des Cars’ request concerning the installation of such a police station.