Louvre Heist Mastermind Revealed: Social Media Star and Former Guard “Doudou Cross Bitume” Arrested
The main suspect behind the €88 million jewel heist at Paris’s Louvre Museum has been identified as “Doudou Cross Bitume,” a TikTok and YouTube personality who once worked as a security guard. The daring seven-minute robbery shocked France, while the stolen royal jewels remain missing.
Paris authorities have arrested four suspects in connection with one of the boldest museum robberies in recent memory.
On October 19, a four-man gang stormed the Louvre Museum’s Apollo Gallery, home to priceless royal jewels. Using a stolen truck equipped with a telescopic ladder and freight lift, they climbed to a first-floor window, smashed through the glass, and broke open two display cases.
The entire operation took less than seven minutes. The thieves escaped on motorcycles with eight pieces of jewelry worth €88 million, including an emerald-and-diamond necklace gifted by Napoleon I to Empress Marie-Louise and a diadem belonging to Empress Eugénie, adorned with 212 pearls and nearly 2,000 diamonds.
The influencer behind the crime
According to Le Parisien, the lead suspect, Abdoulaye N., known online as “Doudou Cross Bitume,” is a 39-year-old influencer from the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers.
He rose to fame with motorbike stunt videos on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, where he showcased his skills on powerful scooters around the Stade de France area.
Despite his online popularity, Abdoulaye N. had 15 prior criminal convictions, including drug possession, driving without a license, and even a 2014 jewelry-store robbery. He had also worked as a security guard at the Pompidou Centre and the Musée Fréquet d’Albine — experience investigators believe helped him navigate museum security systems.
DNA evidence and ongoing investigation
Police arrested the suspect at his home on October 25, six days after the heist. His DNA was found on a shattered display case and on gloves and cutting tools abandoned at the scene.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the suspects “do not fit the profile of a highly organized criminal group,” raising suspicions that they may have acted under direction from a larger network.
Defense lawyer Maxime Cavaillé urged the public to respect the presumption of innocence, saying media attention had created “an extraordinary atmosphere” around the case.
Jewels still missing
All four suspects remain in custody, but none of the stolen jewels have been recovered. Investigators believe the pieces may have already been smuggled out of France or dismantled for resale.
