ALBAWABA - The heist mastermind, which the crew refused to name out of fear for their families, was ‘disappointed’ with the take from the Louvre.
In October of last year, two thieves broke into the Louvre, stealing $100 million worth of crown jewels and antiques. Despite this, the mastermind of the heist was disappointed, saying they ‘could have taken more.’
The two thieves, named as Abdoulaye N and Ghelamallah A, broke into the Louvre and seized eight pieces of jewelry but made it out with only seven, as they dropped a gem-encrusted crown worn in the 19th century by Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III. “Yes, it was me, it fell out of my bag,” Abdoulaye N admitted.
When they gave the loot to the mastermind he “wasn’t happy”. Both men were hired two or three days before the heist, with the unknown mastermind telling Ghelamallah A that he would be robbing “a jewelry store where they make jewelry in Paris” instead of the most popular museum in the world.
The mastermind offered both men around $23,000, “Maybe more, depending on how much money it would bring in.” added Abdoulaye N. The mastermind prepared the men for the heist by showing them a video that showed the cases with the Napoleonic jewelry, “Break windows and retrieve jewelry from inside the display cases.” he said, according to the suspects.
The plan was set to motion as the thieves entered the first-floor balcony, the bandits broke through the window of the gallery and entered the museum where they began cutting out the windows of two display cases.
“When we got in, there was no one there, it was dark, only the lights in the display cases were on,” Abdoulaye N says, “In the distance, I could see security moving around, behind a door, or something.”
“We had to take as much jewelry as we could,” he said. “If we take more than three minutes, we know we have to leave, otherwise we’ll be reported. For me, what we did was taking too long.”
Both suspects stated that they don’t know what happened to the jewelry after handing it off, though they commented that the mastermind’s motivations were financial rather than anything else, as he planned to sell the jewelry on the black market, according to the suspects.
“They’re no choirboys,” Ghelamallah A said about those responsible. Abdoulaye N was equally cautious: “I wasn’t threatened, but I received calls from outside. They told me to keep quiet.”
