The Louvre theft evokes the famous “Pink Panther” gang which stole $500 million in works of art and jewelry

The thieves who stole priceless jewels from the Louvre revive memories of a daring gang that stole $500 million in valuables during a series of daring heists spanning nearly two decades.

The Pink Panthers targeted jewelry stores and museums in Europe and Asia and committed some of the largest heists in history, reaping half a billion dollars in stolen goods between the early 1990s and mid-2010s.

There is no evidence that the theft at the Louvre was linked to the Pink Panthers, but the brazen nature of the theft was similar to those carried out by the gang.

Who are the Pink Panthers?

THE Pink Panthers are a network of loosely organized teams, Interpol Secretary General Ron Noble told “60 Minutes” in 2014. Hundreds of gang members are associated with the group. Most came from Eastern Europe, Noble said, and many fought in Serbian special forces during the Bosnian wars in the mid-1990s. The gang has no organized chain of command, Noble said, and draws on experts in areas such as security hacking, carjacking and more.

The Pink Panthers bring military discipline and expert planning to their flights, Noble said, often conducting weeks of surveillance and preparation before reaching their target. The attacks are carried out by small teams, usually in less than a minute, and feature well-planned escapes, Noble said. Once on the run, the gang quickly crosses international borders, often using fake passports.

A daring heist saw the Pink Panthers drive cars through a Dubai shopping mall before breaking into a jewelry store, stealing handfuls of diamonds and fleeing, all in 45 seconds. They are responsible for the biggest art theft in Japanese history and the biggest jewelry heist in Britain. In this latest incident, thieves made off with $40 million worth of precious stones, some hidden in a jar of cold cream. In San-Tropez, France, they escaped by speedboat after stealing jewelry worth $3 million. In 2008, the Pink Panthers stole priceless paintings from an art museum in Zurich, Switzerland. The artworks were worth a total of $163 million, making it the largest art theft in European history.

Law enforcement has been pursuing the gang for years, Noble said. Interpol identified 800 members of the Pink Panthers using photos, fingerprints and DNA, Noble said. Several gang members were arrested, including an arrest in 2024. Some of the stolen property, notably the paintings taken to Zurich, was found. However, diamonds and jewelry are difficult to recover, as gemstones can be recut or made into different pieces.

Flight to the Louvre

The Louvre thieves were working in broad daylight while tourists were already inside the famous museum. The thieves entered the museum with a crane-like elevator, then broken windows in the Apollon Gallery, home of the French crown jewels. They fled the scene on motorbikes, a museum spokesperson said.

The museum was closed after brazen heistand no injuries were reported. French authorities said the theft was carried out in just four minutes and described the thieves as “professional”. Criminologist Alain Bauer told CBS News that the thieves left behind DNA, which could be compared to information in law enforcement databases if the thieves are known to police. French police said supplies including an electric saw, gloves, a walkie-talkie and a can of gasoline were also found. Bauer said the evidence will help police in their investigation.

“We will catch them,” said Bauer, a criminology professor at France’s National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts. “I don’t think we’ll capture the gems.”

The thieves took nine pieces from the jewelry collection of Napoleon III. One object – Empress Eugenie’s crown, made of gold, emerald and diamonds – was found, apparently abandoned outside the museum.

Other stolen items include a pearl and diamond tiara containing more than 200 pearls and nearly 2,000 diamonds, a gold corsage-shaped bow brooch with thousands of stones, a sapphire jewelry set that may have belonged to Marie Antoinette, an emerald necklace and a pair of earrings that Napoleon gave to his second wife as a wedding gift and a brooch encrusted with diamonds.

The jewelry was of “invaluable value,” according to the French Interior Ministry and the museum. Despite their value, the jewelry was apparently not in reinforced boxes, art historian and former Louvre employee David Chanteranne told CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer. For the sake of “historical accuracy”, the jewelry was presented in its original box.

Recent flights across Europe

Other notable heists have taken place at European museums in recent years. In Germany, thieves broke into the Green Vault museum in Dresden overnight in 2019 and stole more than $120 million worth of jewelry. The thieves told the court that they used an ax to smash the crates and a fire extinguisher to hide their DNA. Some of the stolen parts were recovered, but were damaged. Others have never been found.

Thousands of objects have been discovered stolen from the British Museum in 2023. The small pieces were not on display and were widely used for research purposes. An employee was fired and the museum said it was taking legal action against him. Some of the items were recovered.

In 2022, a group of men broke into Germany’s Celtic and Roman Museum, during a heist that took place in just nine minutes. Cables were cut at a nearby telecommunications center, leaving the area without a communications network. The thieves forced the door of the museum, then smashed a window to steal hundreds of gold coins dating from 100 BC. They left the museum without setting off an alarm.

The men were arrested several months later. Three participants were condemned and was sentenced to prison terms of up to 11 years, while a fourth was acquitted of involvement in the robbery but found guilty of other charges. The treasure is still missing and appears to have been at least partially melted.

In 2020, a Van Gogh painting was stolen from a Dutch museum closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The painting was recovered in 2023, according to the Smithsonian.