Paris has been rocked by a series of high-profile museum heists, exposing significant security vulnerabilities and highlighting the audacious nature of criminal gangs operating in the French capital. Two incidents, one at the world-renowned Louvre Museum and another at the Museum of Natural History, occurred within days of each other, prompting crisis meetings and raising serious questions about the protection of France's priceless heritage.

The Louvre, the world's most visited museum, fell victim to a "highly organised gang" in a daring seven-minute raid on a Sunday morning. The criminals targeted the Denton Wing, specifically Salle 705 and the Apollo Gallery (Galerie d'Apollon), which houses jewels belonging to historical French royalty. During the heist, eight priceless items dating from France's 19th-century royalty were plundered. These included an Imperial brooch containing thousands of diamonds, a tiara, necklace, and earring from the Queen Marie-Amélie sapphire set, and Empress Eugénie's brooch, famed for its 2,438 diamonds. Additionally, an emerald necklace from the Marie-Louise set was taken. While nine pieces from the Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte collection were initially targeted, the historic Eugénie Crown, adorned with thousands of diamonds and emeralds, was later found discarded and broken below a window of the Louvre, indicating it was either dropped or intentionally damaged during the escape.

The modus operandi of the Louvre gang was meticulously executed. Arriving outside the museum around 9:30 am on scooters, masked individuals extended a freight elevator, resembling a giant ladder, from a flat-bed truck against the wall of the Apollo Gallery. They then used an angle grinder to breach an external window, gaining access to the exhibition room. The lightning-fast operation saw them prise open two display cases before vanishing on their scooters just as police began to arrive.

Security failures at the Louvre were immediately brought under scrutiny. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez and Culture Minister Rachida Dati attended a crisis meeting, while Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin conceded significant lapses. Security guards reportedly failed to confront the gang, and police did not respond to an alarm in time. Darmanin also admitted that windows and display cabinets were too easily breached, and there was an insufficient number of CCTV cameras in the targeted Denton Wing. Compounding these issues, the wing was undergoing construction work, and museum employees had previously protested understaffing in June. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau suggested the "highly organised gang" could be working for a collector in the black market, and experts fear the stolen gems may be broken down and lost forever.

Adding to France's security woes, the Museum of Natural History in Paris experienced its own significant theft just days prior. Six gold nuggets, valued at approximately 1.5 million euros ($1.75m; £1.3m), were stolen from its mineralogy gallery. Police investigating the scene found an angle grinder and a blowtorch, suggesting a similar level of planning and equipment to the Louvre heist. A critical detail in this case was the disabling of the museum's alarm and surveillance systems via a cyberattack, which the thieves were apparently aware of. Emmanuel Skoulios, the museum director, emphasized the "extremely professional team" knew precisely which items to target, stating, "It is absolutely not by chance that they went for these specific items."

A significant breakthrough in the Museum of Natural History case came with the arrest of a Chinese-born woman in Barcelona. She was apprehended on a European Arrest Warrant while attempting to dispose of about a kilo of melted-down gold and was believed to be preparing to flee to China. She is currently being held in pre-trial detention, with investigations ongoing. One of the largest stolen nuggets, originally from Australia, weighed 5kg and was worth around €585,000.

The proximity and professional nature of these thefts underscore a worrying trend. Art detective Arthur Brand commented that such criminals are likely experienced, confident, and well-informed, suggesting that "This won't be their first heist." Media reports indicate that at least four French museums, including the Louvre and the Natural History Museum, have been targeted in recent months. The successful breaches have led to a "deplorable image of France," as conceded by officials, prompting an urgent reevaluation of security measures across the nation's cultural institutions.