‘Mastermind was not completely happy’: Louvre burglars reveal how they pulled off €88 million jewel heist
Two males suspected of finishing up probably the most spectacular heists in French historical past have damaged their silence, confessing to the €88 million Louvre jewel theft and revealing they had been employed for €15,000 to €25,000 by a mysterious mastermind they nonetheless refuse to call.Abdoulaye N. , 40, a former web sensation recognized for motorbike stunt movies beneath the alias Doudou Cross Bitume, and Ghelamallah A. , 36, an unemployed Algerian, described their involvement intimately throughout marathon interrogations on June 2 and 22, in keeping with Le Monde.The pair stated they had been recruited two or three days earlier than the October 19, 2025 heist and given a video filmed contained in the Galerie d’Apollon displaying the royal jewellery assortment. Their mission: break the home windows and seize the jewels.“I knew I used to be going to rob the Louvre,” Abdoulaye admitted for the primary time. Ghelamallah insisted he was informed the goal was a jewellery retailer in Paris and that he would by no means have set foot within the museum if he had recognized.
The heist: A ten-minute operation
On the morning of the heist, the group coordinated in Aubervilliers earlier than heading to the Louvre. Abdoulaye took management of a increase carry, carrying a high-vis vest. “I prolonged the arm beneath the balcony. There have been two individuals beneath. Me and Ghelamallah had been above,” he recounted.The pair smashed the window of the Galerie d’Apollon and entered the museum. With an influence cutter in hand, they started chopping by way of show case glass. “Once we obtained inside, there was no person, it was darkish, solely the lights within the show circumstances had been on,” Abdoulaye stated.Visibly irritated by his confederate’s gradual tempo — regardless of having practiced utilizing the software the day earlier than — Abdoulaye finally helped him smash the show case. “We had been meant to take as many jewels as we may. If we stayed greater than three minutes, we knew we needed to depart or we would get caught. For me, what we did took too lengthy.”
€88 million haul, deserted crown
The pair seized eight items of jewellery — tiaras, a brooch, necklaces and earrings that had belonged to French queens and empresses — valued at €88 million. Throughout their escape, they deserted the crown of Empress Eugénie, which fell from Abdoulaye’s bag and was discovered close to the Louvre.
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“Sure, it was me, it fell out of my bag,” Abdoulaye admitted sheepishly, including, because the judges confirmed him a photograph of the severely broken jewel: “What we did was unsuitable, it was very severe. Luckily, I am not suicidal, in any other case I’d have killed myself.”The boys poured gasoline on the bucket truck to erase proof and fled on scooters, narrowly escaping police by seconds. A white Citroën Berlingo served as a “relay car,” with one group taking the van on a random route by way of the Paris ring street to “cowl their tracks.”
Jewels handed to mastermind
Abdoulaye stated he handed the jewels to the mastermind in an underground car parking zone in Aubervilliers — the purpose the place police misplaced the bodily path of the haul. He confirmed it was him within the car parking zone surveillance footage dealing with jewellery one hour after the heist.“In my bag, I had seven or eight items of jewellery. The mastermind was not completely happy. He thought we may have taken extra. We misplaced time getting in by way of the window,” Abdoulaye stated. In line with him, “different individuals” had been ready exterior the car parking zone to take cost of the valuable jewels.Each males refused to disclose the mastermind’s identification out of concern of reprisals. “Nobody threatened me, however I obtained contacts from exterior. They informed me to maintain quiet,” Abdoulaye stated. Ghelamallah added: “They are not angels.”Investigators stay divided on whether or not a mastermind exists or whether or not the jewels are nonetheless hidden someplace within the Paris area. In line with one principle, there was no mastermind and the jewels stay hidden, with solely the 4 suspects figuring out their location. In line with the opposite, the loot was handed over to accomplices on the day of the heist to be offered overseas.The worst-case situation: the crown jewels could have been dismantled, with sapphires, diamonds and emeralds recut and offered as particular person stones.“I admitted my involvement. I settle for the implications and remorse it. The remainder is past me,” Abdoulaye stated.
