After months of silence, two men suspected of stealing the royal jewels gave a detailed account of their role in the spectacular heist during new hearings in June. They claim they were hired for the job with a promised fee of between 15.000 and 25.000 euros.
These are the two main suspects in the Louvre Museum robbery: 40-year-old Abdelaje N., an unlicensed taxi driver and former internet sensation from the 2000s, known for videos of motorcycle stunts he recorded under the nickname Doudou Cross Bitume, and 36-year-old Gelamalah A., an unemployed Algerian man suffering from Diogenes syndrome.
The fathers of the families from the northern Paris suburb of Aubervilliers are suspected of breaking into the Apollo Gallery on October 19, 2025, and stealing some of the French crown jewels. They climbed onto the balcony of the world's largest museum using a hydraulic platform, then, using grinders, entered the gallery, slowly descended in an elevator car in front of tourists, and escaped on a scooter. They were arrested seven days later, charged with organized theft, and have been in custody ever since.
They were taken out of prison on June 2 and 22 for questioning before two investigating judges. During the hours-long interrogations, the transcripts of which were reviewed by Le Monde, they described their role in the robbery in detail for the first time.
Some of their statements were confirmed by evidence from the investigation, while some of the allegations seemed unrelated or implausible. Until then, they had only given brief and partial confessions during police detention, and then remained silent before the investigating judges for almost nine months.
Mysterious organizer
According to them, the entire operation was planned by a mysterious organizer whose name they did not want to reveal. Both claim that they were hired two or three days before the robbery and that during the preparations they received a video recording of the interior of the Apollo Gallery showing the royal jewelry collection.
The task was simple.
"Break the windows and take the jewelry from the display cases," said Abdulaj N., explaining that he was chosen because of his criminal past and reputation as a motorcyclist in Aubervilliers.
"I'm known for riding motorbikes, I'm physically fit, resourceful and energetic," he said.
He added that he was in serious financial trouble and was promised between 15.000 and 20.000 euros, with the possibility of earning more "depending on the value of the loot." He believes that the organizers' goal was solely financial gain through the resale of the stolen jewels.
"I knew I was going to rob the Louvre," he admitted for the first time.
Gelamalah A. claims that he was not told that the target was the Louvre, but rather "a jewelry store in Paris."
"If I had known it was the Louvre, I would never have set foot there," he said, adding that he had been promised between 20.000 and 25.000 euros.
"It was supposed to look like maintenance"
On the morning of the robbery, the two suspects met in Aubervilliers with two other accomplices whose identities they refuse to reveal.
In a truck with a hydraulic platform, accompanied by two motorcycles, they headed towards the center of Paris.
Upon arrival at the banks of the Seine, Abdulaj N., dressed in a fluorescent vest, operated the platform.
"I lifted her up to under the gallery balcony. When I was in the basket, someone else lifted us up. Two of us stayed down, and Gelamalah and I were up there," he said.
Gelamalah adds that he was told that everything would look like routine maintenance work.
Three minutes to steal
After breaking the window, they entered the gallery with a chainsaw and a bag over their shoulder.
"There was no one inside. It was dark, only the display cases were lit. In the distance I saw security behind some doors. I broke the glass, took out what was inside. I've done worse things, all I had to do was make an opening," Abdulaj said.
Since he thought his accomplice was breaking the display case too slowly, he helped him.
"We were told to take as many gems as possible. We knew we couldn't stay longer than three minutes, otherwise we would be caught. In my opinion, we stayed too long," he said.
They took eight pieces of jewelry – tiaras, brooches, necklaces and earrings that belonged to French queens and empresses.
With more than 8.700 gemstones, the value of the loot is estimated at a record 88 million euros, not counting its priceless historical value.
During their escape, they dropped the crown of Empress Eugenie, which was found under the Louvre, near the platform.
"Yes, it fell out of my bag," Abdulaj admitted.
Showing him a photo of the badly damaged crown, the judges confronted him with the consequences of the robbery.
"What we did was wrong and very serious... Luckily, I'm not suicidal, otherwise I would have killed myself," he admitted.
Before fleeing on two scooters, four men doused the truck with gasoline.
"To remove the traces. We didn't plan to burn it," Abdulaj said.
Where did the jewels end up?
Escaping the police in just a few seconds, they fled towards the southern suburbs of Paris, where a white Citroen Berlingo was waiting for them, left at dawn as a vehicle to continue their escape.
The group then split up.
Gelamalah A. and an accomplice got into the van and were tasked with covering the trail.
"It was important not to go straight to Aubervilliers. I drove randomly along the ring road, then the A13 and A86 motorways," he said.
Investigators therefore initially believed that the jewels were hidden somewhere in the countryside or handed over to a third party.
However, according to the statements of the two suspects, the entire loot was carried by Abdulaj N.
With the fourth member of the group, he rode a scooter to the underground garage in Aubervilliers.
"It's chaos there. People are repairing scooters and cars," he said.
In that garage, illuminated by neon lights, he says he handed over all the jewelry to the organizer of the robbery.
Surveillance camera footage captured a man wearing a helmet, who investigators believe is Abdulaj N., handling jewelry just an hour after the robbery.
"Those are not angels"
"I took the tiara out of the bag," Abdulaj said.
"I had seven or eight pieces of jewelry in my bag. The organizer wasn't happy. He thought we could have taken more. We wasted too much time coming in through the window," he added.
Abdulaj claims that other people were waiting in front of the garage to take the jewels, but that he does not know where they ended up later.
Both he and Gelamalah refused to reveal the identity of the organizers out of fear for themselves and their families.
"These are not angels," said Gelamalah.
Abdulaj claims that no one directly threatened him, but that he received messages in detention to keep quiet.
Unexpectedly, both now claim that the organizer personally participated in the Louvre robbery, but insist that it is not the two other suspects already identified by police – Slimane K. and Rachid H.
"You arrested the wrong people," Abdulaj told the investigating judges.
When asked why he did not reveal the name of the organizer, he replied:
"I can't name him. There will be consequences. I don't want my family to be a target. I don't know if I could live in France after that."
The only thing he discovered was that the organizer's name was "Jo" and that he might just be an intermediary for even more powerful clients.
Two versions of the event
Investigators remain cautious about the existence of a mastermind. So far, they have not found any material or digital evidence to confirm or refute the claim.
Therefore, there are two possible versions of events.
According to the first, the organizer did not even exist and the jewels are still hidden somewhere around Paris, and only the four arrested people know where they are.
According to the second, there was an organizer and intermediaries to whom the loot was handed over on the same day to be sold abroad.
Most worrying is the possibility that the royal jewels were disassembled, and the sapphires, diamonds and emeralds were recut and sold as individual gems.
"I have admitted my role. I accept the consequences and I repent. Everything else... is not in my hands," Abdulaj said at the end of the several-hour hearing.
translated by: S. STRUGAR
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
