Paris Hit by Wave of Street Muggings and Grave Robberies

Austerity-struck Paris was hit in late 2012 by a wave of street muggings and grave robberies, with thieves prepared to exhume bodies to steal gold and jewellery.

The cemetery at Pantin

In Pantin cemetery, in the north of Paris, dozens of bodies were dug up, with gold teeth and jewellery stolen from them. Police sources said the three men seized in the investigation's latest arrests were gravediggers employed by the city's own cemeteries, men with the keys, the knowledge, and the night shifts.

The foundry murder

There was further public outrage after two masked intruders shot dead a 52-year-old precious metal worker when he tried to stop them stealing gold from his foundry in the chic central Parisian district of Le Marais.

Why then

Police said sky-high market prices for precious metals were acting as a magnet for thieves with scant regard for the living or the dead. Gold had been on a historic run, and Paris, a city dense with both wealth and the dead, offered targets in both categories.

The episode said something bleak about the moment: an economic crisis deep enough that the gold in corpses' mouths became worth the digging.

FAQ

Where did the grave robberies happen? Pantin cemetery, north of Paris, where dozens of bodies were exhumed.

Who was arrested? Three men employed as gravediggers by the city's cemeteries.

What was stolen? Gold teeth and jewellery from the dead.

What else happened? A 52-year-old precious metal worker was shot dead by masked intruders at his Le Marais foundry.

Why the crime wave? Record-high gold prices made precious metals, from the living and the dead, worth stealing.

The takeaway

When gravediggers start robbing graves, the economy is not the only thing that has been buried.