[Louvre. Photo credit to Pixabay]

On Saturday October 25th, two suspects were arrested and accused of stealing 102 million dollars worth of monarchy jewelry from the Louvre Museum a few weeks ago. 

On October 19th, at 9:30 AM, four men arrived at the Gallery of Apollo in the Louvre Museum of  Paris, France.

They set up a ladder truck and used it to climb up to the second-floor balcony of the building.

Once inside, the stationed guards were threatened and evacuated, giving room for the robbers to use an angle-cutter to break into the room.

Eight jewels were stolen and the robbers were able to escape the scene by scooter into the city.

The entire heist took just under 8 minutes and occurred in broad daylight.

Police stated that the speed and professionalism shows how it was extremely well-planned and carried out by extremely experienced individuals.

The fact that the Louvre, one of the most well known and most visited museums in the world,was robbed so easily shocked the world. 

Ironically, Louvre Director Laurence des Cars admitted to the French Senate that there were no CCTVs stationed on the balcony itself.

The other CCTVs were either facing away, or were old and worn out, resulting in a delayed reaction from the security team.

France’s justice minister conceded the security as “failed,” leaving the country with a “terrible image.” 

A total of eight jewels were stolen that day, including the jewelry  worn by Queen Marie-Amelie in the 19th-century French Imperial times.

The estimated value of these jewels was 102M dollars –not including the immense historical significance they held.

These jewels were also significant symbols of the French monarchy, leaving a cultural damage to the country as well.

Over 100 forensic scientists and investigators took on the case, and after gathering more than 150 DNA samples, they were able to arrest two suspects on October 25th.

One was apprehended at Charles de Gaulle Airport attempting to depart for Algeria, while the other went to Mali.

The other two suspects remain at large.

Police are most concerned about the state of the jewels, as one of two things could happen to them.

The first scenario is that in order to sell these jewels on the black market, they could be broken down into small pieces.

Gems such as diamonds or emeralds could be sold separately, and the gold and silver melted to manufacture other jewelry.

While this method minimizes risk, the value of the jewels would be significantly lower than its original value.

The second scenario could involve the robbers trying to sell the jewels back to the French government.

Although this would pose danger and risk to the robbers of getting caught,  if succeeded, could earn them a fortune.

Investigators and the police are striving to prevent any of these scenarios from happening, and to find the jewels before it is too late. 

All in all, this heist exposed the vulnerability of the Louvre’s security and its need for improvement, as well as leaving a significant cultural and monetary damage to France. 

Citizens of Paris and around the world  anxiously await its recovery,as well as the recovery of the pride and cultural symbol of France.

As of the two arrested individuals, the police have yet to give a further update on the flow of the investigation.