“THEY DON’T GIVE A CARE” — The world’s most mysterious luxury thieves, The Pink Panther gang, are now being linked to the $500M Louvre heist.
Born from chaos, they mastered the art of illusion — once using a painted bench trick so clever it fooled guards for hours. 🖼️💎
But the real shock? Authorities believe one of the original members might still be hiding in plain sight… closer than anyone ever imagined. 👀
How AK-47-wielding Pink Panther gang linked to Louvre raid rose from flames of war to pull off Ocean’s 11-style heists
The notorious group – who have raked in around $500m – are known for plotting ‘heists of the decade’ with meticulous attention to detail, including a genius trick involving a painted bench
IT is the art heist of the century after an audacious criminal gang made off with millions of pounds-worth of jewels in a daylight robbery at the Louvre.
And as authorities face a race against time to track down the thieves and the priceless jewels before they are dismantled and sold, the question on everyone’s lips in the art world is: who are these professional thieves?
Police stand near the Pyramid at the Louvre Museum after last weekend’s shock raidCredit: Splash
Millions of pounds’ worth of crown jewels were stolen
Pink Panthers member Rifat Hadziahmetovic was jailed over a smash and grab raid in TokyoCredit: AFP
Two gang cars bursting into a mall in Dubai in 2007Credit: Interpol
There are fears that the infamous ‘Pink Panther Gang’, who previously stole £23,000,000 of diamonds from Graff jewellers in London back in 2003 could be behind the daring Hollywood-style heist.
Former Flying Squad boss Barry Phillips told The Sun: “It fits exactly with their previous track record and methods they use.”
Many members of the gang are ex-soldiers with extensive backgrounds in paramilitary training.
And they have pulled off impressive thefts across the globe, with Interpol estimating there are around 800 members of this criminal network internationally.
Art detective Arthur Brand says the finger of suspicion is bound to point at the Pink Panther Gang because of their reputation for always pulling off Ocean’s Eleven-style raids.
He says: “They do very daring heists. They have done heists in Dubai, Tokyo and Miami and what they always try to do is the heist of the decade.
“And this of course is the heist of the decade, it is like a movie. They try to copy the movies – they dress up as women, drive away in speed boats – so those heists are very spectacular.
“This was spectacular – it is the Louvre, the most famous museum in the world. It could be them.
“I still think it is a local French group but I am sure the authorities will be investigating them as a possibility.
“They will be the next people to be looked at – who would dare target the Louvre? Of course the first name that comes to mind are the Pink Panthers.”
The Pink Panthers’ organisation is believed to consist of Bosnian war veterans who use their military background to plan and execute their daring heists.
The group has a wide range of skills with specialists including document forgers, safe crackers, and members with advanced weapons and driving training.
When the fighting stopped they are believed to have moved towards the less damaged and more affluent parts of Europe.
There has been speculation that they came bearing a grudge against the wealthy countries who failed to stop the atrocities in the Balkans.
As one Serb who claimed to have come into contact with the Pink Panthers explained to an American journalist, they are children of Yugoslavia, a country that doesn’t exist any more, so “they don’t give a f***”.
Making their name
The gang first came to attention in 2003 and earned their nickname following the theft of a £500,000 diamond from a jewellers in Mayfair.
When two smartly-dressed men walked into the store, staff thought nothing of the fact that one of them was wearing a ludicrous wig because celebrity customers often wore disguises when shopping for jewels.
But then the man with the wig pulled out a gun and screamed ‘everybody on the floor’.
Nebojsa Denic was found guilty of taking part in the Graff jewellery robberyCredit: PA:EMPICS
Milan Poparic, serving time for his role in a 2009 robbery, broke out of a prison in Orbe in western SwitzerlandCredit: AFP
Weapons used by the Pink Panther gang to rob a Barcelona jewellery shopCredit: EPA
Two gang members were arrested and brought to trial – although the mastermind behind the robbery had disappeared along with 90 per cent of the jewels.
At the trial it was revealed that one of the suspects, Milan Jovetic, was caught when cops found a £500,000 blue diamond hidden in a tub of his girlfriend’s face cream.
It was a move that had come straight out of the film The Return of the Pink Panther – and the nickname was born.
Genius tricks
In the space of six years they are believed to have targeted 120 stores in 20 countries across the world, with attention to detail and daring getaways being their hallmark.
They were clever enough to paint a bench in Biarritz in 2001 before they raided a jewellery store opposite so that it was too wet for potential witnesses to sit on.
And, more brutally, they managed to spring a gang member from a high-security French jail by using ladders to scale the prison walls, exchanging fire with warders using Kalashnikov rifles as they made their getaway.
The gang robbed a St Tropez jewellery store in 2005 wearing T-shirts emblazoned with flowery designs, before making their escape on a speedboat.
Before a 2008 robbery of Graff jewellers in Dubai, eight gang members drove a pair of Audis through a window, taking watches and other items worth a total of £8million.
They have done heists in Dubai, Tokyo and Miami and what they always try to do is the heist of the decade
Art detective Arthur Brand
In December 2008, four gang members dressed themselves up as women before breaking into Harry Winston jewellers in Paris.
They also have a history of targeting museums as well as jewellers. In 2008, a museum in Switzerland had a Monet, Van Gogh, Cézanne and a Degas stolen, with an estimated worth of £119,162,880.
Olivera Cirkovic, the self-proclaimed brain of the group, claimed to have lost track of the amount of money the Pink Panthers have gained through their operations, but it is estimated to be in excess of $500million, ranking them among the most successful robbers in the world.
But they aren’t invincible and several members of the gang have been arrested and jailed across Europe for their involvement in heists.
Denic running away from Graff jewellers in a wig after the armed robberyCredit: Photo News Ltd
A getaway bike parked outside the storeCredit: Central News
One of the suspects was caught when cops found a £500,000 blue diamond hidden in a tub of his girlfriend’s face creamCredit: Sky
The gun used by Denic to rob Graff jewellersCredit: Photo News Ltd
This latest and most daring raid on the Louvre was not without mistakes.
Although the gang, dressed as workmen in hi-vis jackets and armed with a chainsaw and angle grinder, managed to get away with priceless jewels – including pieces belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte and his family – they also slipped up.
They dropped a £100million diamond and emerald-encrusted crown worn by Napoleon III’s wife Empress Eugenie as they fled.
“The mistake made in this operation was that they dropped one piece,” says Arthur Brand. “These mistakes are always made in every heist.”
Jonathan Pratt, managing director at Dawsons Auctions, estimates the value of the stolen gems to be around £85million.
He says: “These items are effectively some of the last European Royal crown jewels, these are historically irreplaceable.
“The gem stones alone are hugely valuable. The biggest concern is that they will get broken up, the term used to describe a piece that is dismantled for its intrinsic metal and gemstone value. If this happens, we will never see them again.”
Race against the clock
Arthur believes the gang will now be working around the clock to do exactly that and sell them off before they are captured.
He says: “You cannot sell these pieces, they are well known, they are on the front pages of every newspaper in the world.
“So the only thing they can do is take off the jewels – some of them have hundreds of small diamonds.
“If you take all the diamonds out and sell them separately you cannot make the link to the Louvre.
“The gold and silver will be melted down and the bigger diamonds will probably be cut smaller. It is horrible – it is a race against time, the sooner the police catch the thieves the more likely these pieces return intact.”
But despite pulling off the daring heist in broad daylight, Arthur is convinced that the gang will be caught.
“The thieves will be caught, that is without question. The French police, the secret service, everyone is after them right now,” he says.
“It is such a huge manhunt. But it is a question of time – if it takes a long time, they might have been able to get rid of the stuff and sold it.”
