The owner of a computer containing 2 USB sticks with sensitive security information relating to the Olympic Games to be held in the French capital from 26 July to 11 August 2024 was robbed on a train at Gare du Nord. 

The Paris City Hall employee filed a report on Monday 26 February after discovering the theft of his bag when he had just boarded a train from Gare du Nord in Paris (10th arrondissement) to Creil (Oise). The incident occurred at around 7pm when the 56-year-old engineer, who works for the Paris City Council, was robbed on the train, a police source confirmed on Tuesday. 

The owner of the bag had put it in the luggage compartment above his seat on the train. Some time later he noticed it was missing, the victim told the police. In his statement to investigators, the engineer explained that his work computer and the two USB sticks contained sensitive information relating to security plans for the Olympic Games prepared by the municipal police. Paris City Hall refused to comment on the matter.

According to an initial investigation by the Regional Transport Security Service (SRT), the theft took place between 18:30 and 19:00 on Monday while the victim was on a train parked on platform 18 of the Gare du Nord station.

What could have been just another theft, one of many in the French capital, ended up worrying the Paris authorities five months before the start of the thirty-third Olympic Games of the modern era, adding another problem to the security of the Games, which officially begin on 26 July, but the first competitions will take place on 24 July with football and rugby matches. 

Paris is planning to mobilise 2,000 municipal police officers for the Olympic Games (26 July - 11 August), who will join some 35,000 police and security forces dedicated to the safety of the more than 10,000 participating athletes and the millions of tourists who will take to the streets of Paris and other locations in France.