On October 21, local time, Paris prosecutor Raoul Becqueau announced that a 24-year-old woman had been arrested and officially charged with alleged involvement in the gold theft at the French National Museum of Natural History that shocked France in September.

A piece of gold will be exhibited at the National Natural History Museum in France in 2020.

According to prosecutors, the total weight of the stolen natural gold is 6 kilograms, and the loss is estimated at as much as 1.5 million euros (approximately 12.4 million yuan), and the historical and scientific value of these collections is more "precious".

Girl in Spanish network.

Experienced and well-informed

The 24-year-old female suspect was arrested on Sept. 30 in Barcelona, Spain, according to Becuo prosecutors. The investigation showed that she was extremely vigilant and left France on September 16th, the day the theft was successful.

Spanish police arrested him according to a European arrest warrant. Officials noted in the statement that she was "trying to dispose of nearly 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of molten gold fragments" at the time of her arrest. The suspect was formally handed over to the French authorities on October 13, and was charged with theft and conspiracy on the same day. He is currently in temporary custody. The investigation continues.

"We are dealing with an extremely professional team who knows exactly where they need to go and have professional equipment," Emmanuel Scullios, director of the French National Museum of Natural History, said at the time of the incident. "It is no accident that they are specifically targeting these specific items," he stressed.

¡ø Paris Museum of Natural History

It was reported at the time that a major security breach was exploited by thieves: the museum's alarm and monitoring system was hit by a cyber attack at the time of the crime, causing it to fail completely, and the thieves clearly knew about it. A museum spokesperson revealed: "The thieves are clearly experienced and well-informed, and they exploit security vulnerabilities that were not discovered during the most recent audit in 2024."

Investigators found evidence on the scene. The two doors of the museum were barbarily cut by a corner mill, and the exhibition cabinet in which gold was stored was destroyed by a high-temperature jetlight. Police recovered a large number of case tools on the scene, including light bulbs, corner mills, screws, air bottles and saws.

According to the prosecutor, surveillance videos recovered after the incident showed that an intruder had just entered the museum alone at 1 a.m. until about 4 a.m. and left the case for up to 3 hours.

The stolen items were all gold nuggets

One weighs 5 kilograms

Prosecutors confirmed that the stolen items included a giant gold nugget from Australia discovered in 1990 and weighing 5 kilograms. Based on the current gold price, the value of this piece alone is as high as 585,000 euros.

In addition, the stolen items included 18th-century Bolivian gold nuggets, Russian Urals gold nuggets personally presented by Tsar Nicholas I in 1833, and historic gold nuggets from the California Gold Rush period.

According to reports, in the past two months, at least four French museums, including the Louvre and the National Museum of Natural History, have been burgled.

The Crown of Queen Eugene from the Louvre Collection.

Just a few days ago, the world-famous Louvre Museum was stolen in the sunshine.According to French police, ¡°professional¡± thieves broke into the world¡¯s most visited museum, stole eight French royal jewelry of value for seven minutes, and then escaped by motorcycle.

Christopher Marinello, founder of Art Recovery International, warned that museum robberies are on the rise in Europe and beyond. "If you have jewelry or gold in your collection, you need to worry," he said.

Red Star News reporter Deng Shuyi

Edited by Guo