Chasing the Louvre loot: Inside Antwerp’s jewellery underworld

By Gabriel Stargardter and Juliette Jabkhiro

PARIS (Reuters) -In the hours after the Louvre heist, Belgian police received an alert from their French counterparts, urging them to be on the lookout for anyone trying to hawk the stolen jewels, according to two Antwerp police officers.

The alert came via the “Pink Diamond” network, a secure channel overseen by EU law enforcement agency Europol that unites investigators specialized in high-value thefts.

Antwerp, a Belgian port city, has sat at the heart of the world’s diamond trade since the 16th century. Its wholesalers traded nearly $25 billion worth of stones last year alone.

But over the last 30 years, Antwerp has struggled to contain a growing underworld, home to hundreds of gold and jewellery shops run largely by people of Georgian d