As roughly 150 billion won (€88 million) worth of royal jewels were stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris, one of the suspects was revealed to be a social media (SNS) star and a former museum security guard.
According to daily newspaper Le Parisien on the 5th (local time), French judicial authorities identified Abdoulaye N. as the key suspect. He is a local SNS star who goes by the name "Doudou Cross Bitume." He gained popularity by sharing motorcycle stunt videos mainly on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
Le Parisien said he lives in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers and was described by neighbors as kind, diligent and frank. However, he turned out to be a repeat offender with a total of 15 criminal records, including possession and transport of drugs and driving without a license. He was even convicted in 2014 on charges of robbing a jeweler. He had also worked as a security guard in the past at the famous Paris arts center Centre Pompidou and at the Musée Fréquet d'Albine.
Abdoulaye N. is suspected of storming the Louvre Museum in broad daylight on the 19th of last month with accomplices. They used a telescopic ladder and a freight lift mounted on a stolen truck to approach a first-floor window of the Apollo Gallery, which displays royal jewels. According to police, while two broke the window and glass display cases, the other two waited outside on motorcycles. The crime took less than seven minutes.
They stole a total of eight pieces of jewelry, valued at €88 million (about 149.9 billion won). Among the stolen items was an emerald-and-diamond necklace Napoleon I gave to his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise. A crown owned by Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, also disappeared; it was set with 212 pearls and more than 2,000 diamonds.
French judicial authorities are currently detaining four suspects in total, including Abdoulaye N. He was arrested at his home in Aubervilliers on the 25th of last month, six days after the crime. His DNA was reportedly found on a smashed display case left at the crime scene, as well as on gloves and cutting tools.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said, "The suspects in this case do not match the profile of a highly organized, professional criminal group typically associated with the term 'museum robbery.'" Accordingly, local media are raising the possibility that they acted under instructions from a backing force or a specific criminal group.