Two suspects arrested in Louvre jewels heist, two more sought

Two suspects were arrested in the theft of the crown jewels from the Louvre Museum, one of whom was preparing to flee the country, Paris authorities announced on Sunday.

The two men are aged around 30, from an economically deprived Paris suburb and were already known to the police, Reuters reported, citing the newspaper Le Parisien. One of the arrested suspects was identified using DNA found at the scene from a glove and helmet left behind by the thieves, local media reported.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau refused to confirm the exact number of suspects arrested or whether any stolen treasures had been found.

The suspects were arrested Saturday evening by members of a special police unit tasked with investigating armed robberies, serious burglaries and art thefts, she said in a statement.

One of the suspects was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. Reuters reported that he was about to board a flight to Algeria.

The other suspect was planning to travel to Mali, BBC News reported, both citing local media. At least two other suspects are still being sought, according to CNN.

The French Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nunez, praised “the investigators who worked tirelessly, as I asked them, and who always had my full confidence”.

At the same time, Beccuau expressed frustration over the information leak.

“This revelation can only hamper the investigative efforts of the hundred or so investigators mobilized, both in the search for the stolen jewelry and in the search for all the perpetrators,” she said, according to Reuters. “It is too early to provide precise details.”

On October 19, crooks climbed to the upper floor of the famous museum via a basket elevator, broke through a window of the Apollo Gallery with power tools, smashed display cases and fled on motorcycles carrying eight cultural monuments valued at $102 million.

The thieves made off with a tiara and earrings from the early 19th century collection of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense, as well as an emerald necklace and earrings linked to Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, Empress Marie-Louise, and a reliquary brooch. The gold crown of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, set with emeralds and 1,300 diamonds, was found in the roadway in front of the museum.

The brazen mid-morning heist lasted only minutes and stunned the world.

With news feed services