French investigators have now shifted their sights to Belgium after a crucial analysis of suspicious phone records. An update on the extraordinary manhunt after one of the most daring art heists in history at the Paris Louvre, the world's most visited museum.
The inquiry into the Louvre Museum robbery has taken a new international dimension. Several months after the spectacular theft of 19 October 2025, which exposed poor management and catastrophic security flaws at the famous Paris museum, and left the French state shocked and embarrassed, detectives are focussing their attention to a serious Belgian lead.
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According to the newspaper Le Parisien, analysis of the phones of several suspects from Eastern Europe, known for stealing goods, has revealed exchanges and connections suggesting direct links with Belgium.
Calls, photos stored on the phones – in particular of the Galerie d’Apollon, from where the Crown Jewels were stolen – as well as movements and certain identified contacts, are now steering investigators towards this new geographical area, seen as a possible base of operations for the network involved.
In light of these findings, French police have travelled to Belgium to pursue their inquiries on the ground. Checks are under way, concentrating not only on the entourage of suspects already identified in France, but also on potential accomplices or fences who may have helped organise the heist.
This development reinforces the theory of a commando unit acting on behalf of very wealthy international backers or highly specialised criminal networks.
At the same time, the French authorities are continuing their investigations on national territory, in particular to identify all members of the network and to understand how the operation as a whole was organised. The goal remains unchanged: to recover the stolen works and valuables and to dismantle the entire operation.
Stolen haul still missing
The thieves entered the Galerie d’Apollon on Sunday 19 October at 9 a.m. and in a matter of minutes made off with a haul worth 88 million euros.
They notably took a diamond and emerald necklace given by Napoleon to Empress Marie-Louise, jewellery linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense, as well as the pearl and diamond tiara of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.
None of the items has so far been recovered, but according to a journalist from Le Parisien and another from the Belgian newspaper L’Avenir (source in French), a hearing could be held this week with French suspects, some of whom are said to be “ready to reveal where the stolen jewels are hidden” in order to reduce their sentences.
