They’ve cased plenty of targets in their criminal careers, planned intricate escapes, and some have even swallowed diamonds, doing hard time along the way. So, what do these ‘professionals’ truly make of the audacious Louvre heist that has captivated the entire world?
Was it a criminal stroke of genius, or simply an exploit of glaring museum incompetence? Could they have pulled it off themselves?
Seasoned former jewelry thieves offer their often-scathing professional insights into last Sunday’s break-in at the Louvre in Paris. Intruders breached a second-floor window of the world’s most-visited museum, making off with more than $100 million in royal jewels and crown diamonds, all in a mere seven minutes. Move over, “Ocean’s Eleven.”
Larry Lawton’s Perspective on the Break-In
Larry Lawton, 64, who served over a decade in federal prison for a series of jewelry store robberies in the 1980s and 1990s, offers a unique perspective. “I know the adrenaline rush,” he says. “You have to time it perfectly, or you’ll get completely flustered if you don’t understand what you’re doing.” Lawton, whom authorities linked to more than $18 million in stolen jewels, emphasizes that true thieves meticulously assess vulnerabilities and weigh risks long before the actual crime. He stresses the absolute necessity of having a “fence” lined up in advance to unload stolen goods.
For Lawton, the Louvre thieves’ precise targeting of the gilded Galerie d’Apollon, where the jewels were displayed, clearly suggests an “inside person.” “An inside person doesn’t mean they even know him,” he muses. “Could it be a girlfriend who’s a tour guide, and she knows, oh, where it is?” He recalls his own meticulous planning, even abandoning a “mega job” at the opulent Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach when it didn’t feel “right” after weeks of casing.
Joan Hannington’s Take: The Godmother Weighs In
Across the pond, Joan Hannington, 69, known as “the Godmother” in London’s 1980s underworld for her prolific diamond thefts and occasional diamond-swallowing tactics, echoes Lawton’s suspicions. “It’s got to be an inside job,” she asserts from her home in West Sussex, England. Hannington, whose life inspired a 2024 television mini-series, believes the stolen gems – including a royal sapphire necklace, an emerald set with matching earrings, and Empress Eugénie’s diadem (wife of Napoleon III) – will be easily disposed of. “They can break them all up and sell the individual stones,” she explains. “They can be made into rings.”
Hannington sharply criticizes both the French authorities and the Louvre for their handling of the incident and the museum’s security. She points out that the museum had not insured the stolen jewels due to prohibitive costs. “Where I come from, if you’ve got that amount of diamonds or jewelry or artifacts or whatever, and you’re not insured, shame on you,” she states. “They couldn’t catch a fart in the wind. How stupid are they?”
Flaws in the ‘Perfect’ Heist
While Lawton also faults the museum, he contends the heist was far from a flawless operation. The thieves carelessly left behind gloves, a helmet, a vest, and other items that authorities say contain DNA traces. “They’re not experts,” he insists. “They’re opportunists.” Even more shocking to him: during their hasty getaway, the thieves actually dropped a crown made for Empress Eugénie, an item worth an estimated $20 million. “I robbed 25, 30 jewelry stores — 20 million, 18 million, something like that,” Lawton recalls. “Did you know that I never dropped a ring or an earring, no less, a crown worth 20 million?”
Escape Strategies and Hollywood’s View
His stark advice to the thieves? “Get out of France if they haven’t done so already.” He acknowledges that airplane travel is risky but suggests methods for smuggling jewels through airport security, including “suitcasing,” a method he describes as hiding items “in your rectum.” Hannington confirms a similar technique, where she would sometimes swallow gemstones with olive oil, quipping, “It goes through the system. We don’t have to get too graphic.” She, too, couldn’t fathom how the crown was left behind: “A good thief is like a Hoover. They Hoover all the diamonds up.”
Lawton believes it’s only a matter of time until the thieves are caught and prosecuted, unless they manage to retain some jewels as bargaining chips or “bury diamonds forever.”
Ultimately, the intricate choreography of the Louvre heist left some real-life criminals unimpressed. However, actor George Clooney, famous for playing the big-time thief Danny Ocean, revealed this week that the theft was straight out of a Hollywood script. He’d even been teasing the production of “Ocean’s 14.” “It was cool, though,” Mr. Clooney said. “I mean, it’s terrible. But if you’re a professional thief like I am, I was very proud of those guys.”