Crown jewels stolen from Louvre may never be recovered

{ $102-MILLION HEIST

- Agencies

Crime gangs around Europe are increasingly robbing valuable jewels and gold from cash-needy museums like the Louvre, but while police often catch the thieves, they struggle to recover the priceless goods, law enforcement and art experts say.

Only a small pool of criminals would be capable of such a job as Sunday's audacious robbery in Paris and may already be known to police, the specialists say. But the objects themselves could be quickly broken down into component parts and sold on.