Seven people believed to be involved with the Louvre jewel heist have been arrested and are being questioned. Two of the seven people have partially admitted that they were a part of the crime. Three of the four men who actually stole the jewels have been found while the fourth is still to be caught.
The BBC said that specialist police can have them questioned for 96 hours. DNA was found on the broken glass at the crime scene to identify one of the suspects. There was also DNA evidence found on one of the scooters. The thieves left gloves and one of their high-visibility jackets. Their identities are to remain anonymous until they are charged.
Art teacher Samantha Shonka visited the Louvre before in high school. She and her boyfriend are dressing up as the thieves for Halloween by wearing a high-visibility jacket, construction hats and a clear backpack with jewelry inside.
Shonka said, “The Louvre is the most visited museum in the world, it’s huge. I actually got lost with my friend, Justine, in the jewelry section that got robbed. We were about 45 minutes late to meet our group… so the fact that the security was so relaxed was really wild.”
One man was caught in the Charles de Gaulle Airport trying to go to Algeria. The second was caught in the suburbs preparing to flee to Mali. The thieves caught had prior crimes involving organized crime. They had robbed jewelry stores before this. The five others were caught in a raid Wednesday night. Additionally, one of the suspects is an illegal taxi driver.
They will be charged with organized crime and criminal conspiracy. Along with them, anyone who tries to buy the jewels will be guilty of concealment of stolen goods.
Sophomore Ipsitha Karnam said, “So the thing is, the one of the most famous Louvre heists ever was the ‘Mona Lisa.’ That’s what made the ‘Mona Lisa’ so famous. Before that, the ‘Mona Lisa’ was just a painting. It’s like ‘a guy just painted it, she doesn’t have eyebrows, she doesn’t smile’ moving on. But once it got stolen, it skyrocketed, and I think that just shows how a lot of art is only valued based on what people gave it.”
There is a belief that once attention is given to something that it will become famous even if it wasn’t famous before. That was what happened to the “Mona Lisa” and will likely happen for these jewels if they are found. So visitors should be prepared for longer lines because people will want to see the returned art.
Shonka said, “They don’t know where the jewels are, and they’re probably going to break them down, which is really sad, history wise.”
Karnam didn’t agree with a lot of how the thieves did their work. Many people believe that the crime seems too unorganized to work which makes it a funny scene. She believes hats to protect hair and keeping on gloves would have been smart.
“I mean, they did it in seven minutes, so I know they were obviously in a huge hurry. But not leaving DNA would be the big thing. It was so bold that they did it at 9:30 in the morning. There were tourists walking around,” said Shonka.
Many students believe this should be its own movie or documentary because of all that happened. From the repairmen costumes, to threatening guards with box cutters, and fleeing on motorcycles, the events don’t feel real.
“These jewels can’t be sold anywhere other than the black market, unless they’re planning on ransoming it back to the Louvre, which is what I would do personally, but they don’t seem very smart,” said Karnam. “You can’t go to a pawn shop because you won’t get what they’re actually worth. If you try to get someone who will give you what they’re actually worth, it won’t work out. Any jeweler would know their worth seeing that it’s from the Louvre.”
The Napoleonic jewels still have yet to be recovered. Empress Eugénie’s emerald-set imperial crown was recovered since the thieves dropped it in the escape. Since the Empress’s crown has been damaged, the hopes for the other jewels are low.
The Louvre is open to the public except the Apollo Gallery where the heist took place.
