PARIS ¨C Crime gangs around Europe are increasingly robbing valuable jewels and gold from cash-needy museums such as the Louvre, but while law enforcement often catches the thieves, they struggle to recover the priceless goods, police and art experts say.
Only a small pool of criminals would be capable of such a job as Sunday¡¯s audacious robbery in Paris and may already be known to police, the specialists say. But the objects themselves could be quickly broken down into component parts and sold on.
¡°If I steal a Van Gogh, it¡¯s a Van Gogh. I can¡¯t dispose of it through any other channel than an illicit art market,¡± said Marc Balcells, a Barcelona-based expert in crimes against cultural heritage. ¡°But when I am stealing ... jewellery, I can move it through an illicit market as precious stones.¡±
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