The Paris prosecutor’s office has revealed the arrest of four additional individuals in connection with the audacious robbery at the Louvre Museum last month, where $157 million in jewels were stolen.
Prosecutor Laure Beccuau, leading the investigation, stated that the two men and two women detained are from the Paris area, with ages ranging from 31 to 40.
Although Beccuau’s Tuesday announcement (Wednesday AEDT) did not specify their suspected roles in the October 19 heist, authorities can question them for up to 96 hours.
Reports from French media suggest that one of those apprehended is a 39-year-old man with prior police encounters, believed to be the fourth member of the group responsible for the bold daylight robbery. He hails from Aubervilliers, a suburb north of Paris linked to other suspects.
The three other alleged members of this so-called “commando” unit have previously been detained and are facing preliminary charges of theft by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy. Their DNA was discovered at the crime scene or on related items.
An additional woman, arrested in October, is charged with complicity in the crime.
The loot hasn’t been recovered. It includes a diamond-and-emerald necklace Napoleon gave to Empress Marie-Louise, jewels tied to 19th-century Queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense, and Empress Eugenie’s pearl-and-diamond tiara.
The robbery has focused attention on security at the Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum.
The thieves took less than eight minutes to force their way into the museum and leave, using a basket lift to reach the building’s window.
Footage from museum cameras showed two broke into the ornate Apollo Gallery, cutting into the jewellery display cases with disc cutters and making off with the trove, while two riders on scooters whisked them away.
The emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie, containing more than 1300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum.
