Thieves in France steal jewellery worth up to $1.2 million

"Thieves in northern France have made off with jewellery worth up to $1.2 million, police said on Saturday. The burglars reportedly broke into a jewellery boutique in central Roubaix, near Lille, on Wednesday, and briefly took the jeweller and his wife hostage before making off with the valuables. The jewels were worth "between €500,000 and €1 million" ($580,000 and $1.2 million), police said. They have launched an investigation into kidnapping, organised crime and armed extorsion."

"In a separate incident earlier on Wednesday, several individuals blew up a cash transfer safe belonging to Roubaix's main post office and escaped with the bag that was inside it. It later transpired that the bag contained nothing other than more empty bags. Six people were arrested that evening. The heists come after a gang raided the Louvre museum in Paris in broad daylight last month, stealing jewellery worth an estimated $102 million. READ ALSO: France arrests five new suspects in Louvre heist probe"

Thieves in northern France stole jewellery valued between €500,000 and €1 million ($580,000–$1.2 million) after breaking into a central Roubaix boutique. The burglars briefly took the jeweller and his wife hostage before fleeing with the valuables. Police launched investigations into kidnapping, organised crime and armed extorsion. Earlier the same day, individuals blew up a cash-transfer safe at Roubaix's main post office and stole a bag that later proved to contain only empty bags; six people were arrested that evening. The incidents followed a high-profile daylight raid on the Louvre in Paris last month that netted an estimated $102 million in jewellery.

Read at The Local France