text: Thieves have stolen 300 bottles of fine wines worth €250,000 (£230,500) from a cellar in central Paris after breaking into the trove of vintages from the catacombs, the maze of mainly off-limits tunnels under the French capital. 
   
   The apparently well-informed thieves broke first into the catacombs from one of many secret or sealed entrances around Paris before drilling a hole through the cellar wall of the property near the Luxembourg gardens - which houses the French Senate. 
   
   After stealing the grands crus, they quietly vanished back underground, said police. ||||| A gang of thieves managed to empty the Parisian cellar of a private residence of 300 of its finest wine bottles in the night between Monday and Tuesday (28/29 August). 
   
   The gang successfully pierced a hole in one of the walls of the private cellar, reports France Bleu. The flat was located in a fashionable Paris neighbourhood, near the Jardin du Luxembourg and the French Senate. Their loot amounts to €250,000 (£231,000) in fine wine and the thieves still remain at large. 
   
   To complete their heist, they used a secret pathway in the Paris Catacombs. A police source analysing the audacious theft speculated: "We believe they must have made visits before; the suspects didn't drill that particular wall by accident." 
   
   The 3rd District of the Parisian Criminal investigation department is in charge of the case and have so far refused to comment on the heist. 
   
   The real-life artful dodgers managed to navigate the intricate maze that make up the Paris Catacombs. 
   
   The one mile-long pathway tourists can visit is but one tiny fraction of the labyrinth. About 150 miles of dark corridors, dead ends and possible pits await thrill seekers who dare to explore the former communal cemetery. 
   
   The Catacombs were once mines but at the end of the 18th century, they were converted into ossuaries to curb the overflow of bodies in the city's cemeteries. That is why in addition to their confusing structure and lack of light, the Catacombs are home to between six and seven millions of human remains. 
   
   Skulls and rib cages lay along its walls. Apart from the path that is actually accessible to the public, the rest of the Catacombs are restricted. Whoever braves the interdiction risks a fine of €135 (£125). There are also legends about people dying in the Catacombs after explorations went wrong and of cults holding black masses in the ossuary. 
   
   However sinister that may sound, many Parisians known as 'Cataphiles' like to brave the maze and enter the Catacombs at night. Some have organised parties or even film screenings. A special branch of the police force, called the 'Cataflics' or Catacops,' deal with the intruders. 
   
   In June 2017, two teenagers were found safe after spending three days trapped in the Catacombs. The Quarries General Inspector, Julien Alaterre noted that the people who visit the Catacombs are "usually well equipped regulars". ||||| Thieves who stole more than 250,000 euros worth of fine wine from a Paris apartment cellar exploited the French capital's vast underground tunnel network, according to French media reports. 
   
   Thieves knocked through a wall of the Paris catacombs to break into the luxury apartment’s cellar and steal an estimated 250,000 euros-worth of vintage wines, French media has reported police as saying. 
   
   There are an estimated six million people buried in the Paris catacombs, part of a vast underground tunnel network stretching for several miles underneath the French capital. 
   
   French media said that the thieves stole around 300 bottles of fine wine from the cellar of an apartment in the plush sixth arrondissement of Paris, near to the Le Jardin du Luxembourg. No specific wines were named. 
   
   Paris police said that they were investigating how the theft took place. 
   
   Police speculated that such precision in the catacombs network would require significant research and planning by the culprits. 
   
   Earlier this summer, two teenagers were lost in the Paris catacombs for three days. 
   
   Only two kilometres of the network is open to the public. The gates are locked at night, yet groups are known to find ways into the tunnels to hold illicit parties. 
   
   Parisians began burying their dead underground in the 18th Century in response to overflowing graveyards. 
   
   Some of the estimated six million dead met their end at the guillotine during the French Revolution and subsequent Terror period at the end of 18th Century. 
   
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target: – The catacombs 65 feet under Paris are home to the bones of 6 million people, tours, illegal parties, secret film festivals, and—on one recent night—thieves making off with nearly $300,000 worth of fancy wine. The Guardian reports thieves drilled into a cellar belonging to an apartment near Luxembourg Gardens and stole more than 300 bottles of vintage wine. The wine is said to be worth between $595 and $1,200 per bottle, according to the Telegraph. "We're talking about very, very good wine," a spokesperson for the local prosecutor says. She says the burglary could have happened any time between late July and late August but was only discovered this week. After loading up on wine, the thieves made their escape through the catacombs. The International Business Times reports the thieves are still at large, and police are offering few details on their investigation. The specific wine stolen has also not been revealed, according to Decanter. With approximately 150 miles of tunnels comprising the catacombs, police believe the thieves knew exactly what cellar they wanted and where it was located. "One can assume that they had made reconnaissance missions and that the criminals didn't drill through this wall by chance," the Telegraph quotes a police source as saying. (Two teens spent three days lost in the dark and cold of the Parisian catacombs.)