Like a Hollywood movie, “IN AND OUT IN 7 MINUTES: How Daring Thieves Pulled Off Dazzling Daylight Louvre Jewel Heist“.

The Louvre Heist headlines splashed across the internet starting October 19, 2025. Four thieves stole jewellery worth €88m from the world’s most-visited museum, brazenly in broad daylight. They escaped on scooters. The museum was shut down for four days. The precious jewels have yet to be recovered, though arrests are ongoing.

But this isn’t the first time that something extremely valuable has been stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris. The famous Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, was stolen in 1911. A museum handyman named Vincenzo Peruggia hid in a closet, removed the painting from its frame, and walked out with it tucked under his clothes. This, too, occurred in broad daylight. Peruggia was caught two years later when he tried to sell the painting to an art dealer. Ironically, the theft greatly boosted the painting’s fame.

From artworks to jewels and cash, here are some heists that have rocked the world and brought attention to the need for better security systems:

1. 1963: Great Train Robbery (England)
2. 1971: D.B. Cooper’s Air Piracy Raid (USA)
3. 1972: United California Bank Heist (USA)
4. 1978: Lufthansa Heist (USA)
5. 1983: London’s Brink’s-Mat Gold Robbery (England)
6. 1990: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist (USA)
7. 1997: Dunbar Armoured Robbery (USA)
8. 1997: Loomis Fargo Armored Car Robbery (USA)
9. 2000: London Millennium Dome Robbery (England)
10. 2003: The Antwerp Diamond Heist (Belgium)
11. 2005: Banco Central Burglary (Brazil)
12. 2007-2008: Two Harry Winston Heists (France)
13. 2009: Stockholm Helicopter Robbery (Sweden)
14. 2011-2012: The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist (Canada)
15. 2015: Hatton Garden Heist (England)
16. 2016: Bangladesh Bank Cyber Heist Attempt (Global)
17. Cyber Heists (Ongoing)

1963: Great Train Robbery (England)

On August 8, a 15-member gang led by Bruce Reynolds stopped a Royal Mail train in Buckinghamshire by tampering with the signals. They overpowered the crew and escaped with £2.6 million (a massive sum at the time), earning a Guinness World Record. Most gang members were eventually caught, though one, Ronnie Biggs, lived as a fugitive for 36 years.

1971: D.B. Cooper’s Air Piracy Raid (USA)

An American, known only as ‘D.B. Cooper,’ hijacked a Boeing 747 between Portland and Seattle by threatening to set off a bomb. After extorting $200,000 in Seattle, he ordered the plane to take off again, then parachuted out with the money and was never found or identified.

1972: United California Bank Heist (USA)

In March, a crew led by Amil Dinsio rented a house near the United California Bank in Laguna Niguel. They spent weeks observing, then cut phone lines and used explosives to open the vault. They systematically looted an estimated 500 safe deposit boxes, taking about $9 million in cash, jewelry, and valuables. The gang was eventually caught after a matchbook was traced to them.

1978: Lufthansa Heist (USA)

Immortalized in the film Goodfellas, this was orchestrated by mob associate Jimmy “The Gent” Burke. In December, six armed men stole approximately $5.8 million in cash and nearly $1 million in jewellery from the Lufthansa cargo terminal at JFK Airport. In the aftermath, Burke allegedly ordered the murders of many connected to the heist to prevent arrests. The majority of the money was never recovered.

1983: London’s Brink’s-Mat Gold Robbery (England)

In December, six thieves, working with an inside security guard, broke into the Brink’s-Mat warehouse at Heathrow Airport. They were aiming for $4 million in cash but found and stole three tons of gold bullion, along with diamonds and cash, valued at $37 million. They had to melt down the pure gold to fence it, but police eventually followed the money trail. Most of the gold remains missing.

1990: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist (USA)

On March 18, two men disguised as Boston police officers gained entry to the museum. They tied up the guards and spent 81 minutes stealing 13 works of art, including pieces by Vermeer and Rembrandt, valued at over $500 million. The case remains unsolved, and the artwork has never been recovered.

1997: Dunbar Armoured Robbery (USA)

Led by an ex-Dunbar safety inspector, Allen Pace, who had inside knowledge, six men ambushed night shift guards at the Los Angeles Dunbar Armored truck depot. They used a key and timed security cameras to load a van with $18.9 million in cash. They were eventually caught after a wad of cash wrapped with a Dunbar seal was spotted. Pace was sentenced to 24 years, and about $10 million is still missing.

1997: Loomis Fargo Armored Car Robbery (USA)

Armored car driver Philip Noel Johnson, looking to leave his $7-an-hour job, handcuffed one co-worker in his home and another to a tree in North Carolina. He stole $18.8 million from his truck and headed for Mexico. Five months later, he was caught trying to re-enter the U.S. by bus. All but $186,000 of the stolen cash was recovered.

2000: London Millennium Dome Robbery (England)

A gang planned to crash a bulldozer into the Millennium Dome exhibition centre during the New Year’s celebration to steal the 203-carat Millennium Star diamond. Scotland Yard was tipped off and had 200 officers disguised as staff. When the bulldozer crashed in, police arrested most of the gang on the spot, preventing the jewel theft.

2003: The Antwerp Diamond Heist (Belgium)

One of the most elaborate heists in history, led by Leonardo Notarbartolo. After moving into an apartment next door in 2000 and posing as a diamond merchant, Notarbartolo’s crew bypassed 10 layers of security in a vault two floors underground to steal diamonds and gold worth $100 million. Notarbartolo was later linked to the crime by roadside trash and DNA on a sandwich and sentenced to 10 years. Many jewels were never found.

Watch the series, Everybody Loves Diamonds, on Netflix based on this robbery.

2005: Banco Central Burglary (Brazil)

In August, a gang in Fortaleza, Brazil, spent three months digging a sophisticated 256-foot tunnel from a rented property to the bank’s vault. They stole approximately $70 million in used, non-sequential bank notes. Some members were caught, but a large portion of the money remains missing.

2007-2008: Two Harry Winston Heists (France)

• 2007: Four men dressed as painters stole $37 million in jewels in a daylight heist.
• 2008: A year later, four men, three of whom wore wigs and dresses and were linked to the ‘Pink Panthers,’ entered the same shop. They stole 104 watches and 297 pieces of jewelry valued at $73 million in just 20 minutes. Eight men were eventually convicted, including a Harry Winston security guard.

2009: Stockholm Helicopter Robbery (Sweden)

In September, Sweden witnessed its first helicopter robbery. Thieves disabled police helicopters and blocked roads with spikes before landing a stolen chopper on the roof of the G4S cash depot in Stockholm. They blasted their way into the vault and escaped with about $5.3 million in cash. Ten men were charged, but none of the money was recovered.

2011-2012: The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist (Canada)

Carried out over several months, perpetrators siphoned nearly 3,000 tonnes of maple syrup, valued at $13.7 million, from a storage facility in Quebec, replacing it with water. The gang was eventually caught and imprisoned, and in 2022, the mastermind was ordered to pay back the full amount.

2015: Hatton Garden Heist (England)

A gang of elderly men known as the ‘diamond wheezers’ broke into a safe deposit company. They drilled through a 20-inch-thick vault wall with an industrial power drill to bypass the main door. They stole cash and jewellery worth $20 million. Seven men were arrested within a month, but only $3 million was ever recovered.

2016: Bangladesh Bank Cyber Heist Attempt (Global)

Hackers pretending to be from Bangladesh’s central bank tried to steal $1 billion from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. They successfully transferred $81 million but were thwarted when a spelling mistake on a transfer request aroused suspicion.

Cyber Heists (Ongoing)

A 2021 indictment charged three North Korean computer programmers with conspiracy to steal and extort more than $1.3 billion in cash and cryptocurrency from financial institutions, highlighting the massive, ongoing nature of modern cybercrime.

Sources:
Heists and Hustles: 10 of the World’s Most Audacious Crimes by Skyscape
Top 10 Biggest Heists in History

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon 2025.

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This blog post is part of ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Ratna Prabha.