Woman charged after stealing 1.5 million euros worth of gold from Paris museum

A Chinese woman has been charged with stealing six gold bars worth about 1.5 million euros ($1.75m; £1.3m) from the Museum of Natural History in Paris last month, French prosecutors said.

The woman was arrested for trying to dispose of some of the molten gold in Barcelona and is being held in pre-trial detention, according to authorities.

Famous for its collection of stuffed animals and bones, the museum is home to the mineral gallery, from where the gold was taken. Police found an angle grinder and a blowtorch at the scene.

The museum’s alarm and surveillance systems were disabled by the cyber attack, the thieves were aware of, French media reported at the time.

“The thieves, obviously very experienced and well-informed, took advantage of a security flaw identified during the last audit conducted in 2024,” a museum spokesman told French newspaper Le Figaro.

Cleaners discovered the break-in when they arrived for work before dawn at the museum, which is part of the Sorbonne University and is located near the Jardin des Plantes in central Paris.

The suspect was arrested by Spanish police on September 30 on a European arrest warrant and handed over to French custody the same day, authorities said in a statement.

At the time of her arrest, she was in possession of about one kilo of molten gold. The investigation is ongoing, the statement said. It is understood that she was preparing to go to China.

One of the largest stolen nuggets, native to Australia, weighs 5 kg. At current gold prices, it would be worth around €585,000.

“We are dealing with a very professional team, fully aware of where they want to go and with professional equipment,” museum director Emmanuel Scolios told French broadcasters.

“It’s not by chance that they went for these specific items,” he told France 2 television last month.

A separate daring heist at the Louvre came just days after thieves were seen making off with the French crown jewels.

On Sunday, “professional” thieves broke into the world’s most visited museum and stole eight valuables before fleeing on a scooter. The raid took less than eight minutes, police said.

Experts told the BBC that the items are likely to be scrapped and sold for a fraction of their value.

“This wouldn’t be their first theft,” Dutch art detective Arthur Brandt said Monday.

“They’ve done other burglaries before. They’re confident and think ‘we can get away with this’ and go for it.”

At least four French museums – including the Louvre and the Natural History Museum – have been looted in recent months, according to media reports.