Justice minister says ‘we have failed’ after thieves take seven minutes to steal priceless jewels from museum
The French government is under increasing pressure over museum security as police continue to search for thieves who took seven minutes to steal priceless jewels from the Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum.
“What is certain is that we have failed, since people were able to park a furniture hoist in the middle of Paris, get people up it in several minutes to grab priceless jewels, and give France a terrible image,” the justice minister, Gérald Darmanin, told France Inter radio on Monday.
Police were working to discover what level of organised criminals had been involved in the highly professional raid, he said. A team of 60 investigators is working on the theory that the raid was planned and executed by an organised crime group.
A gang of four thieves used the hoist to access an outside window in full daylight when the museum was open to visitors on Sunday morning.
