Louvre heist suspects break silence: mastermind 'thought we could have taken more' than €88m crown jewels

The October 2025 heist

On 19 October 2025, a four-person crew broke into the Louvre's Apollo Gallery in Paris using a furniture lift to access a first-floor balcony. They smashed a window, used power cutters to break into display cases, and stole eight or nine pieces of historic crown jewellery, including tiaras, a brooch, necklaces and earrings, worth an estimated €88 million. The entire operation took about seven minutes. After gathering the loot, the two suspects fled on a motorcycle while the other accomplices reportedly waited in a truck.

Confessions after months of silence

Abdoulaye N., a 40-year-old unlicensed taxi driver and former internet stunt motorcyclist known as "Doudou Cross Bitume", and Ghelamallah A., a 36-year-old unemployed Algerian man, were arrested within a week of the heist. For nearly nine months they remained largely silent before judges, but in June 2026 they gave lengthy interrogations totalling 20 pages of testimony. Transcripts obtained by Le Monde show Abdoulaye saying he was recruited just two to three days before the break-in and was shown a video of the gallery to prepare. He admitted he knew the target was the Louvre, while Ghelamallah claimed he believed it was a jewellery workshop and "would never have set foot there" had he known the truth.

The mission was to break the windows and grab the jewellery from the display cases. I knew I was going to burgle the Louvre.

Both men said they were promised between €15,000 and €20,000 each, possibly more depending on the haul, because they were in deep financial trouble. Abdoulaye said he "was profoundly in the red" and that the money was his motivation.

A dissatisfied mastermind

A key revelation from the confessions is the reaction of the unidentified mastermind, whom the suspects described as a client from Aubervilliers, a Paris suburb. After the heist, the organiser was reportedly not satisfied with the record €88 million score. Abdoulaye told investigators that the mastermind thought they "could have taken more" and that they had lost time getting in through the window. The suspects refused to name the organiser, citing fear for their families. Ghelamallah said, "They are no choirboys", and Abdoulaye added that while in custody he received phone calls telling him to keep quiet. The mastermind allegedly intended to sell the stolen jewels, but the whereabouts of the haul remain unknown.

The mastermind was not happy. He thought we could have taken more. We lost time getting in through the window.

The escape and the damaged crown

During their flight from the museum, one of the suspects dropped a gem-encrusted crown that had belonged to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III. The crown fell from Abdoulaye's backpack and was severely damaged. When judges showed him a photograph of the broken piece, he acknowledged it, saying, "Yes, it was me, it fell out of my bag." He then added, "What we did was not right, it's very serious." The crown was one of the pieces from the imperial collection on display, and its loss underscored the recklessness of the seven-minute raid.

What we did was not right, it's very serious.

Investigation ongoing

The two suspects remain in pre-trial detention on organised robbery charges. The judicial investigation continues, with authorities still searching for the remaining two accomplices and the mastermind. The stolen jewels have not been recovered. The heist led to the dismissal of the Louvre's director, and the museum tightened security after the breach exposed gaps in its overnight surveillance. Transcripts of the June interrogations provide the most complete account yet of the planning and execution of the theft, though Le Monde notes that some statements appear disjointed or far-fetched and not all have been corroborated by evidence.