Mastermind behind Louvre heist 'wasn't happy' with €88million haul, suspects say

By WILL HALLOWELL, NEWS REPORTER Published: 21:42, 13 July 2026 | Updated: 21:42, 13 July 2026 The mastermind behind the Louvre heist 'wasn't happy' with the €88million (£75million) haul, two suspects have reportedly told investigators.  The pair, named locally as Abdoulaye N and Ghelamallah A, had been ordered to break into the world-famous museum's Apollo gallery and steal the French crown jewels.  But their client was left disappointed with the loot as the thiefs-for-hire 'could have taken more' - despite stealing eight pieces of high-value jewellery, including 8,700 stones, totalling £75million.  According to the French newspaper Le Monde, transcripts from interviews with investigators revealed that the two men had been ordered to carry out a very specific objective: 'Break windows and retrieve jewellery from inside the display cases.' The suspects escaped with tiaras, a brooch, necklaces and earrings as well as a crown worn by Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.  However the suspects dropped the gem-encrusted crown during the getaway. The daylight robbery shocked the world, making international headlines. Yet the mastermind behind the heist was left dissatisfied by the job, which the duo had been paid between €15,000 to €25,000 (£12,800 to £21,300) to carry out, reportedly.  One of the suspects, Abdoulaye N, a 40-year-old unlicensed taxi driver, admitted: 'Yes, it was me, it fell out of my bag.' He added: 'What we did wasn't right.'  French police officers stand next to a furniture elevator used by robbers to enter the Louvre Museum on October 19, 2025 CCTV footage of the moment an alleged suspect in the Louvre heist reaches into a display case to steal the French crown jewels Members of a forensic team inspect a window believed to have been used in the heist He also told investigators that their client 'wasn't happy' because 'he thought we could have taken more'. The suspect claimed that he and his accomplice, a 36-year-old unemployed Algerian who has Diogenes syndrome, had been ordered to carry out a very specific objective: 'Break windows and retrieve jewellery from inside the display cases.' However the suspects had refused to name the mastermind who plotted the robbery out of fear of reprisals against their families. They were arrested only one week after the heist, which took place on October 19, 2025, and have since been charged with theft as part of an organised gang.  According to Le Monde they had only been recruited just two or three days before the £75million robbery occurred. They had climbed onto a balcony of the Louvre with a freight lift, broke into the gallery with angle grinders then descended via the lift basket - all while in full view of stunned tourists - before making their getaway on scooters, evading police by a matter of a few seconds.  Abdoulaye N said: 'When we got inside, there was nobody, it was dark, only the lights in the display cases were on. 'In the distance I saw security moving around, behind a door or something... Then, using the power cutter, I broke the glass, took out what was inside... I've done worse than that before, all I had to do was make a hole... Thieves got away with an emerald necklace, pictured, from the Marie-Louise set. They were made by François-Régnault Nitot in 1810 They also stole a pair of emerald earrings, pictured, from the same set 'We were meant to take as many jewels as we could... If we stayed more than three minutes, we knew we had to leave or we'd get caught. For me, what we did took too long.'  The suspect added, recalling the mastermind's disappointment, that 'we lost time getting in through the window'.   The incident caused humiliation for France and the Louvre, one of the world's most famous museums, which, in addition to the crown jewels, also houses artefacts from around the world - some dating back thousands of years. The oldest in its collection is the Ain Ghazal Statue, a rare gypsum statue from Ain Ghazal (a neolithic site in Jordan) dated 7000 BCE.  The incident led to the resignation of the Louvre's director. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.