ArtDependence | Heist at the Louvre: A New Lead investigated in Belgium

Monday, June 1, 2026

Heist at the Louvre: A New Lead investigated in Belgium

The investigation into the spectacular robbery at the Louvre Museum is taking a new turn as investigators look toward Belgium, Paris Match France and Le Parisien reveal.

In October 2025, a highly organized group of thieves pulled off a daylight break-in at the Louvre's Apollo Gallery (Galerie d'Apollon). Disguised as construction workers and utilizing a mechanical lift and a circular saw, the thieves breached a window and smashed open display cases. They escaped on scooters with historic French Crown jewels—including emeralds and sapphires belonging to Empress Marie-Louise and Queen Marie-Amélie—valued at an estimated €88 million. While the crown of Empress Eugénie was dropped and recovered damaged near the scene, the rest of the invaluable loot vanished.

A few suspects were arrested in France in the weeks following the theft, but the missing crown jewels were not recovered. Authorities have long feared that the historical pieces would be broken down and their precious stones sold on the black market.

The latest lead tracks the movement of the stolen goods or accomplice networks into Belgium. Belgian authorities and international police agencies are collaborating closely with French investigators to trace fence networks, specialized art traffickers, or underground diamond dealers—particularly looking at traditional criminal pipelines that operate between Paris and Brussels or Antwerp's diamond district.

The discovery of this new lead is not the result of chance. 'French law enforcement benefits from a certain number of contacts within the art world,' as Laure Beccuau, the Paris public prosecutor, recalled in an interview with the AFP last January. 'They have ways of getting warning signs from receiving networks, including abroad.