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Suspects in Louvre heist in custody after week-long manhunt
Suspects have been arrested on Saturday evening and taken into custody as part of the investigation into the spectacular Louvre museum jewel heist a week earlier that gripped the world and embarrassed the French government.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed the arrests on Sunday morning, adding that one of the suspects had been preparing to flee France from Roissy airport. Le Parisien earlier reported two men were arrested and said the other person was located northeast of Paris.
A manhunt was launched after four people broke into the Louvre in broad daylight last Sunday and stole eight pieces of jewelry, including royal necklaces, tiaras and earrings. The brazen heist took just seven minutes, sparking recriminations and renewed scrutiny into the world-renowned museum’s security arrangements.
The two men, already known for burglaries, appear to be experienced criminals in their thirties, from the Seine-Saint-Denis department and may have been acting on orders, Le Parisien reported. The suspects can be held in custody for up to 96 hours. The newspaper said that one of the two men was planning to leave the country, possibly to Algeria, triggering the arrests.
At around 9:30 a.m. last Sunday, two perpetrators parked a furniture lift outside the Louvre and set it in motion. The pair, aided by two accomplices, climbed to a first-floor window and broke into the Apollon Gallery, threatened guards and cut their way into two display cases.
Objects valued at an estimated 88 million euros ($102 million) were stolen, including a tiara, a sapphire necklace and matching earrings from the collection of Queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and earrings belonging to Marie-Louise; a reliquary brooch; and a tiara and large corsage bow of Empress Eugénie.
While they fled, the robbers dropped a crown with more than 1,000 diamonds, and left DNA traces — giving hope to shamefaced officials and police that a massive security lapse wouldn’t lead to a permanent loss.
In a post on X Sunday, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez sent his “warmest congratulations” to the investigators who “worked tirelessly as I asked them to and who always had my full confidence.” Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin last week described the robbery as a failure, acknowledging that the heist gives “a deplorable image of France.”
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on Sunday that she regretted the disclosure of the arrests, which “can only hinder the investigative efforts of the hundred or so investigators mobilized in the search for both the stolen jewelery and the perpetrators.” She said that further details would be given after the custodies end.
