In a significant breakthrough in the investigation into the audacious daytime robbery at the Louvre in Paris, authorities have apprehended five more individuals. However, the crown jewels, valued at an estimated $102 million, remain missing.

The latest arrests took place on Wednesday night in the Seine-Saint-Denis area, a suburb of Paris. This operation raises the total number of people detained in connection with the heist to seven, as reported by State Prosecutor Laure Beccuau to RTL.

Among the newly detained is a suspect believed to be part of the audacious four-member group, referred to by French media as “the commando,” which brazenly stormed the Apollo Gallery in broad daylight on October 19.

Previously, two other alleged members of this group, both men in their 30s from Seine-Saint-Denis, were apprehended last weekend while attempting to flee the country. They have been formally charged with organized theft and criminal conspiracy. According to police reports, during 96 hours of interrogation, they partially confessed to their involvement, as detailed by Beccuau on Wednesday evening.

Since the heist occurred 11 days ago, only one artifact has been recovered — the crown of Eugénie, which was found damaged but capable of repair, discarded during the escape. Still missing are a diamond-and-emerald necklace given by Napoleon to Empress Marie-Louise as a wedding present, along with jewelry linked to 19th-century Queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense.

Beccuau remarked, “These jewels are now, of course, unsellable,” while urging those involved, “there’s still time to give them back.”

Experts have since warned it’s likely they’ll be dismantled and melted down and the stones re-cut for potential sale.

The heist earlier this month lasted less than eight minutes in total, exposing major security gaps in the one of the world’s most popular museums. Police said the thieves rode a basket lift up the Louvre’s facade, forced their way through a window and then smashed display cases some 30 minutes after opening. They then fled the scene on motorbikes.

With News Wire Services