On Sunday morning, a shocking robbery took place at the Louvre Museum in France, where thieves stole eight priceless treasures. It turns out that last month, a similar crime occurred at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, where a gold nugget weighing approximately 6 kilograms was stolen. A Chinese woman is accused of involvement and has been charged.
According to AFP, a 24-year-old Chinese woman was charged and detained on September 16th last month for allegedly participating in organizing the theft. The suspect was arrested in Barcelona, Spain, on September 30. She was formally charged on the 13th and immediately handed over to French police by the Spanish authorities that same day.
The stolen gold nuggets include an 18th-century nugget donated by Bolivia to the Academy of Sciences; a Ural gold nugget gifted to the museum by Russian Tsar Nicholas I in 1833; a nugget discovered during the California Gold Rush in the mid-19th century; and a nugget weighing over 5 kilograms found in Australia in 1990.
● Gold Value Exceeds 737,000 Euros
The gold nuggets have a total weight of about 6 kilograms, and their intrinsic value is estimated at around 1.5 million euros (approximately 737,000 Malaysian ringgit). However, their historical and scientific value is considered “priceless.” The Paris prosecutor emphasized that the loss also includes about 50,000 euros (about 245,700 Malaysian ringgit) in site repair costs.
CCTV footage shows a suspect entering the museum alone after 1 a.m. to survey the premises, leaving at around 4 a.m. The prosecutor pointed out that the suspect left France on September 16, planning to return to China afterward. When arrested, she was attempting to melt down nearly 1 kilogram of gold. The investigation is still ongoing.