French police, Photo: Lionel Alvergnas / Alamy / Profimedia Images
The thieves who broke into the center of Roubaix stole jewelry worth up to 1.2 million dollars, according to the details made by the police on Saturday, AFP reports.
Thieves broke into a jewelry boutique in Roubaix, a city near Lille, on Wednesday and briefly took the jeweler and his wife hostage before fleeing with valuables.
Police announced on Saturday that the jewels were worth “between 500,000 and one million euros”.
Authorities have opened an investigation into the crimes of kidnapping and armed robbery.
Also on Wednesday, in a separate incident, several people blew up a cash transfer safe belonging to the main post office in Roubaix and fled with the bag inside. The bag was later found to contain nothing but a number of empty bags. Six people were arrested that evening.
AFP recalls that on October 19, a robbery also took place at the Louvre Museum in Paris, the most visited in the world, where thieves stole jewels worth 88 million euros, which remain unaccounted for. Four suspects have been charged in the investigation opened by the French authorities.
Among the eight pieces “of inestimable patrimonial value”, according to the authorities, is the tiara of Empress Eugénie (Napoleon III's wife), encrusted with almost 2,000 diamonds. French President Emmanuel Macron recently reiterated that “the jewels will be found” and those responsible for the robbery will be held accountable.
