Authorities have apprehended two individuals linked to the audacious £78 million theft at the Louvre museum in France.
On Sunday, Parisian law enforcement announced that these suspects are believed to be involved in the recent break-in at the world’s most frequented art museum, which took place a week prior.
According to an investigative source, the men had been monitored after forensic evidence suggested their presence near the Louvre last Sunday.
Such surveillance is a standard procedure following a major heist, with the hope that suspects might inadvertently lead investigators to the missing artifacts.
The situation escalated when one suspect was spotted at the airport, prompting detectives to swiftly decide on making the arrests.
The suspects have since been transported to the high-security headquarters of the Paris judicial police, where questioning was underway as of Sunday.
Referring to a suburb north of the French capital, an investigating source said: ‘They are in their 30s, and come from Seine St Denis.
‘One was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport, as he attempted to take a flight to Algeria on Saturday night, at about 10pm.’
The two men, already known to the police for burglaries, have the profile of seasoned burglars who may have being acting to order.
The Louvre burglars left at least 150 DNA samples including fingerprints behind before they fled.
Details of the evidence against the four raiders were revealed by the Paris prosecutor who remained ‘optimistic’ that they would soon be found.
Laure Beccuau was speaking after the spectacular broad daylight heist on the most visited art museum in the world.
Investigators have been casing the crime scene for DNA
Video, shared to social media, shows two thieves coming down a large ladder by the famous museum in the heart of Paris
She hoped that the criminals had previous convictions, meaning their DNA would already be on forensic data bases, and could be matched.
‘Analysis requires time, and is of course a priority for the laboratories,’ said Ms Beccuau.
‘Work in the coming days may open up leads, especially if the perpetrators are on file.’
The ‘150 trace samples’ were left on a stolen flatbed truck, and on a crash helmet and glove that were abandoned.
There were attempts to set the vehicle on fire, but they failed, as the raiders got away on two motorbikes following a burglary that lasted just seven minutes.
Four raiders were seen at the Louvre last Sunday, and some were videoed by witnesses.
The jewellery taken included a broach containing 2348 diamonds, and a tiara with 1083 diamonds – all of it once worn by relatives of Napoléon Bonaparte.
Five security guards ran away, while police responding to an alarm arrived far too late to see the gang disappearing on two motor scooters.
It was only through luck that the villains dropped a fabulously ornate headpiece created for the Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoléon III, for the French capital’s Universal Exhibition in 1855.
The treasure was extremely badly damaged and will require months of intricate restoration.
While CCTV cameras inside the Louvre were largely pointing away from the Apollo Gallery – the scene of the crime where seven historic pieces representing France’s ‘crown jewels’ were taken – there was plenty outside.
Ms Beccuau said video surveillance ‘made it possible to follow the route taken by the criminals to escape’ Paris and ‘neighboring departments’ [the French equivalent of counties].
This was all thanks to ‘images available from public or private cameras’ which will be exploited in the days ahead.
Now there is a race against time, to make sure the ‘arrest of the perpetrators comes as quickly as possible to recover the jewelry before their stones are possibly removed and the metals melted,’ said Ms Beccuau.
She said ‘the media coverage’ of the theft provides ‘a small hope that the perpetrators won’t dare to move too much with the jewels,’ adding ‘I want to be optimistic’.
The world-famous Louvre museum in Paris was hit by a gang who stole jewellery worth millions (pictured: French police officers next to a ladder propped up against the tourist site)
Ms Beccuau has opened an investigation into ‘theft and criminal conspiracy to commit a crime,’ by a ‘highy organised criminal gang’.
If caught and convicted, those responsible face up to 15 years in prison.
The Banditism Repression Brigade of the Judicial Police is leading the enquiry, along with the Central Office for Combating Trafficking in Cultural Property.
The Louvre welcomed nearly 9 million visitors in 2024, 80% of whom were foreigners, including hundreds of thousands of people from the UK.
Those stealing historical art pieces are often working to the orders of dealers who will be unable to sell on the black market.
Instead, the jewellery will be kept hidden, and enjoyed by the master criminal who commissioned the raid.
Alternatively, criminals may chose to break the pieces up, and sell jewels and golds independently, so disguising their historic origins.
This is a breaking news, it will be updated soon.
