Source: Lionel Allorge on Wikimedia Commons
Prosecutors in France recently charged a 24-year-old Chinese woman for stealing millions worth of gold from a museum in Paris.
The incident, not to be confused with the Louvre Museum heist, occurred on 16 Sept at Paris’ Natural History Museum.
Source: Affluences
At the time, the museum believed that a team of thieves had conducted a “well-planned criminal operation”.
The BBC reported that the museum’s surveillance systems and alarms had been disabled by a cyberattack.
“The thieves, clearly very experienced and well-informed, exploited a security flaw that had not been identified during the last audit conducted in 2024,” said a museum spokesperson.
During the heist, six gold nuggets worth about €1.5 million (~S$2.26 million) were removed from the Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology.
Source: Lionel Allorge on Wikimedia Commons
The haul included gold donated from Bolivia in the 1700s and a five-kilogram gold nugget originating from Australia.
According to the BBC, cleaners discovered the break-in before dawn when they arrived for work at the museum.
On 21 Oct, France 24 reported that surveillance footage showed a lone intruder entering the museum at 1am and leaving at around 4am.
They had cut two museum doors with a grinder and breached the display case using a blowtorch.
Investigators also found saws, a screwdriver, and gas cylinders nearby.
On 30 Sept, police arrested a 24-year-old Chinese national in Barcelona, Spain.
She had been trying to dispose of nearly one kilogram of melted gold.
Source: bodnarchuk on Canva, for illustration purposes only
The Spanish police handed the woman to French authorities on 13 Oct, who charged her with the theft of the gold and criminal conspiracy.
According to investigators, the suspect had left France on the day of the heist and was preparing to head back to China.
Investigations into the case remain ongoing.
French police are also on the hunt for suspects of an even bigger heist at the famed Louvre Museum.
At 9.30am on 19 Oct, a group of thieves broke into the second floor of the Louvre using an electric hoist.
Source: @SHYBL_cplc on X
In less than 10 minutes, they had fled on motor scooters with eight items valued at €88 million (~S$132.5 million).
In June this year, the museum’s staff had warned of security flaws.
They went on strike in protest over “chronic understaffing” amidst unmanageable overcrowding.
French labour union representatives stated that more than 200 staff positions had been cut at the Louvre since 2010, including security jobs.
Also read: Man runs off with S$40K Rolex watch after pretending to be customer at Far East Plaza shop
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Featured image adapted from Lionel Allorge on Wikimedia Commons.