Louvre thieves escaped with 30 seconds to spare, probe reveals

PARIS - The thieves who stole crown jewels from the Louvre in October evaded police with just 30 seconds to spare due to avoidable security failures at the Paris museum, a damning investigation revealed on Dec 10.

The probe, ordered by the culture ministry after the embarrassing daylight heist
, revealed that only one of two security cameras was working near the site where the thieves broke in on the morning of Oct 19.

Agents in the security headquarters also did not have enough screens to follow the images in real-time, while a lack of coordination meant police were initially sent to the wrong place once the alarm was raised, the report unveiled at the French Senate’s Culture Commission, stated.

“It highlights an overall failure of the museum, as well as its supervisory authority, to address security issues,” the head of the commission, Mr Laurent Lafon, said at the start of a hearing.

One of the most startling revelations was that the robbers left only 30 seconds before police and private security guards arrived on the scene.

“Give or take 30 seconds, the Securitas (private security) guards or the police officers in a car could have prevented the thieves from escaping,” the head of the investigation, Mr Noel Corbin, told senators.

He said that measures such as a modern security camera system, more resistant glass in the door cut open with angle grinders, or better internal coordination could have prevented the loss of the crown jewels – worth an estimated US$102 million (S$132.22 million) – which have still not been found.

Major security vulnerabilities were highlighted in several reports commissioned by management of the Louvre over the last decade, including a 2019 audit by experts at the jewellery company Van Cleef & Arpels.

Their findings stressed that the riverside balcony targeted by the thieves was a weak point and could be easily reached with an extendable ladder – exactly what transpired in the heist.

Mr Corbin confirmed that under-fire Louvre boss Laurence des Cars had been unaware of the audit which was ordered by her predecessor, Mr Jean-Luc Martinez.

“The recommendations were not acted on and they would have enabled us to avoid this robbery,” Mr Corbin said, adding that there had been a lack of coordination between the two government-appointed administrators.

Police believe they have arrested all four thieves, who escaped on powerful motorbikes, having carried out the heist in the Apollo Gallery in around 10 minutes in total, according to the investigation.

The revelations on Dec 10 are likely to pile more pressure on Ms des Cars, the first woman in the role who was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in 2021.

Questions have swirled since the break-in over whether it was avoidable and why a national treasure that is the world’s most-visited museum appeared to be so poorly protected.

France’s Lower House of Parliament is carrying out its own inquiry, while Ms des Cars and Mr Martinez are set to be grilled by senators next week.

France’s state auditor said in November security upgrades had been carried out at a “woefully inadequate pace” and the museum had prioritised “high-profile and attractive operations” instead of protecting itself.

Senior police officer Guy Tubiana, a security adviser at the culture ministry who took part in the investigation, told senators he was “stunned” by what he had discovered at the museum.

“There was a succession of malfunctions that led to catastrophe but I never would have thought the Louvre could have so many malfunctions,” he said.

Staff at the Louvre are set to go on strike on Dec 15 to demand management act against what they see as under-staffing and overcrowding at the museum, which welcomed 8.7 million people in 2024.

At the weekend, the museum revealed that a water leak had damaged 300 to 400 journals
, books and documents in the Egyptian department in late November. AFP