KUALA LUMPUR: Luxury goods looted from high-end boutiques in Paris are being resold on the streets, with videos showing designer handbags, watches and tech products from ransacked stores circulating online amid the unrest in France.
Clips shared on social media showed designer merchandise, including items from Hermès, Dior and Louis Vuitton, among others, laid out on the ground for sale, while some looters were seen flaunting their haul online.
Footage from the haul also drew reactions from social media users, with some questioning whether the looters could be traced through the stolen tech devices.
"Do they know they can be tracked?" user geezy101_ commented.
"Stealing smart electronics is the most stupid thing one can do," said another user.
"All of those devices they stole are already blocked and out of use, they are useless," another user commented.
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Meanwhile, some of the stolen goods have surfaced on Vinted, a second-hand fashion resale platform, prompting the company to identify and remove listings suspected of containing stolen merchandise.
France's digital minister has also urged resale platforms to remove listings for stolen items and summoned representatives of companies, including Vinted and eBay, to discuss further action.
The scale of the damage was also evident on Avenue Montaigne, a luxury shopping street in Paris, where windows at Louis Vuitton and Jil Sander stores were smashed, while a Celine boutique was stripped bare, Le Monde reported.
Beyond luxury boutiques, grocery stores and eateries operated by local sellers were also targeted, according to the circulating clips, leaving shop owners to grapple with losses and damage to their businesses.
The unrest, reportedly fuelled by anger over student welfare, deteriorating public services and the rising cost of living, has triggered widespread violence and looting.
Closer to home, the Foreign Ministry said on Oct 18 that no Malaysians had been reported involved in or affected by the unrest, after advising Malaysians in France to report their whereabouts to the Malaysian embassy.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd