PARIS, 21 October 2025– A Chinese woman has been formally charged in France over the Louvre Paris museum gold theft, in which six gold nuggets valued at about €1.5m (£1.3m; $1.75m) were stolen from the Museum of Natural History last month.
French prosecutors said the suspect, who was born in China, was arrested in Barcelona on 30 September as she allegedly attempted to sell melted gold. She was detained under a European Arrest Warrant and has since been transferred to France, where she remains in custody awaiting trial.
The theft occurred inside the museum’s mineralogy gallery, known for its extensive displays of gems, fossils and precious stones. Police investigators found an angle grinder and a blowtorch at the scene, suggesting the thieves used professional tools to access the gold.
According to French media reports, the museum’s alarm and security systems had been disabled by a cyberattack before the break-in. “The thieves, clearly experienced and well-informed, exploited a security flaw that had not been identified during the last audit in 2024,” a museum spokesperson told Le Figaro.
The burglary was discovered by cleaning staff arriving before dawn at the museum, which is affiliated with Sorbonne University and located near the Jardin des Plantes in central Paris.
When arrested, the suspect was reportedly in possession of about one kilogram of melted gold and was believed to be preparing to travel to China, prosecutors said. The investigation remains ongoing, and French authorities suspect other individuals may have been involved.
One of the largest stolen nuggets, originally from Australia, weighs around 5kg and would be worth approximately €585,000 at current prices.
Museum director Emmanuel Skoulios told French broadcasters that the thieves were “extremely professional” and “knew exactly what they wanted.”
The charges come amid a spate of recent art and museum thefts in France. Only days earlier, robbers carried out a daring heist at the Louvre, escaping on scooters with several valuable crown jewels in under eight minutes.
Experts, including Dutch art detective Arthur Brand, told the BBC that such items are often broken down and sold for only a fraction of their real value.
