A 2018 review described the balcony of the Louvre burglary as a “vulnerable point” and warned against the use of a forklift.

New and disturbing details continue to emerge about the security breaches that allowed the theft of jewelry from the Louvre Museum’s collection. The audit was conducted in 2018 She identified the balcony as a weak spot Through which the thieves entered on November 19. In fact, it was mentioned that a forklift or crane could be used to reach the aforementioned window.

That document, the contents of which the newspaper revealed on Wednesday Le MondeIt was implemented by security experts from Jewelry company Van Cleef & Arpels It determined “with great accuracy” the danger posed by the balcony on the facade of the building facing the Seine River.

According to the aforementioned newspaper, justice has not yet been able to review this report, which, if leaked, might explain the strategy followed by the thieves last October, due to the coincidence of their infiltration. How it works.

The suspects reached the balcony using a crane, broke a window and entered the Apollo Gallery. There, they broke some display cabinets to steal eight French crown jewels, worth approximately 88 million euros. The pieces, which are feared to have been dismantled for sale separately, have not yet been recovered.

The 2018 audit was conducted in the context of concern between Paris police and major luxury brands in the French capital over… Increase in theftsEspecially in the downtown area, where the most visited museum in the world is located.

The study, which has not yet been published, warns against this Major security lapses in the Louvre Museumwhich was then headed by Jean-Luc Martinez, and the question of the balcony of the Apollo Gallery, in particular, was dealt with in two pages with three plans, always.

In the document, experts insisted that this balcony overlooking the François Mitterrand quay was “one of the biggest weak points in the institution” and that it was easily accessible from the ground. In fact, they were considering the possibility of using a forklift. They also warned against this The surveillance cameras did not fully cover this point.

Moreover, a year earlier Martinez had received another risk report prepared by the National Institute of Higher Studies in Security and Justice in Paris, but the museum management He considered his conclusions alarming and too general. Actions were awaited to receive more precise recommendations.

In another audit revealed by the newspaper Figaro A few weeks ago, the Court of Auditors highlighted the Louvre’s accumulated delays in adapting the museum’s security equipment. The museum head also admitted that the work of the criminal gang was not detected quickly enough and that the perimeter camera system was insufficient.

List of suspects

Van Cleef & Arpels, without denying the existence of the 2018 report, declined to comment on the matter. Le MondeWhile the Louvre administration, led by Lawrence de Carre since 2021, indicated that this assessment did not appear publicly until after the new president, after the theft, requested all the documents found in the Apollo exhibition from the last 25 years.

The museum explained to the aforementioned newspaper, “These documents were not delivered during the change of administration, in the fall of 2021,” noting that the audit “was referred to the General Inspectorate for Cultural Affairs so that it can be completed.” Joins ongoing investigations“.

Video | This is how the Louvre thieves escaped: they took to the street in two waves, carrying the stolen goods

This information became known shortly after the Public Prosecutor’s Office announced, on Tuesday, the arrest of four new people as part of investigations into the robbery. Details about their identities, other than that they are two men and two women who were arrested in the Paris region, and the charges against them remain secret.

However, according to data leaked to the press, one of the two men would be the fourth and final member of the commando unit that committed the crime. site A robbery in broad daylight, a quick operation carried out in just 7 minutes. The other three have already been arrested in recent weeks, and at the moment there is also another woman accused of complicity.

Thanks to… Fingerprints and DNA traces One of the motorcycles that the group used in the escape operation was found, and in one of the two display cabinets that were broken to steal the jewelry, as well as in some abandoned items. So far the three have been identified Abdullah N.Former Louvre guard, Ayed C. and Suleiman K. The investigation into the identity of the operation’s leader is still ongoing.