French police, during an accidental discovery in a drug den while conducting a drug bust, found a “Picasso painting” and identified it as a genuine artwork worth hundreds of millions.

French police, during a raid on a drug den in the suburbs outside Paris, unexpectedly discovered a genuine Picasso painting, estimated to be worth between 12 million and 15 million euros. Currently, four individuals involved in the case have already been immediately questioned, and investigations into theft and the trade in stolen goods have been launched in parallel.
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Drugs, branded clothing, cash—and on top of that, a possible genuine Picasso worth between 12 million and 15 million euros. In a routine drug raid in the eastern suburbs of Paris, French police accidentally uncovered a major art-related mystery.

Earlier this week, France’s drug investigation unit carried out a drug search in the eastern town of “Champigny-sur-Marne,” east of Paris. The target was an ordinary residence. Police had originally focused on drugs and illegal assets, but in addition to cannabis resin, several pieces of luxury clothing, and thousands of euros in cash, the searching officers unexpectedly found a painting inside the home—its appearance closely matched a Picasso masterpiece that has long circulated.

After French newspaper Le Parisien first reported the case, the prosecutor’s office promptly confirmed that the painting had been formally authenticated as an original work by Spanish artist Picasso. However, the prosecution has not yet disclosed the specific name of the artwork.

According to supplementary information, the work is suspected to be Portrait of Maria Theresa Walter, a famous Picasso piece, with a market valuation between 12 million and 15 million euros—about NT$1.2 billion to NT$1.5 billion.

Four people are immediately tried; theft and stolen-goods trading are investigated in parallel

The Cretay Prosecutor’s Office said the prosecution has launched a formal investigation into the case, with its focus on the crime of theft and the crime of trading in stolen goods. On June 19, four people related to the case were brought before the court for immediate questioning, and the case is progressing rapidly.

The prosecution has not yet released the painting’s full chain of custody, including: who the last recorded holder was, why and when it went missing, and how it ended up at this drug den—these questions are all part of the investigation.

How could a painting worth hundreds of millions end up in a drug hideout?

While it is not new for stolen artworks to enter the underground market, cases in which such high-value art shows up at a drug raid scene remain rare. In criminal circles, expensive artworks are sometimes used as “cross-border money laundering tools” or “intangible assets as collateral.” Their physical size is small, making them difficult to trace as they circulate, and international market valuations can be highly flexible—advantages that are hard to replicate with the cash used in drug trafficking.

At present, French authorities have not explained how the painting has been circulated, nor confirmed whether the homeowner knew the true identity and value of the painting. Whether the investigation will involve a larger-scale art smuggling network remains unknown.