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Agence France-Presse

French authorities have detained two of the suspected robbers believed to have stolen precious crown jewels from the Louvre in a museum heist that stunned the world, officials said on Sunday.
A swarm of investigators had been mobilised to track down the thieves who robbed the famous museum in broad daylight on October 19, making off with jewellery worth an estimated US$102 million in just a few minutes.
The two suspects were known to the police for committing thefts, a source close to the case said, adding that they were in their thirties and from Seine-Saint-Denis, a region just outside Paris.
The same source said one of the men had been arrested at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport where he was about to board a plane for Algeria.

The two men were taken into custody on suspicion of organised theft and criminal conspiracy. They could be held up to 96 hours.
After media reports of the detentions, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said authorities had “carried out arrests on Saturday evening”, and confirmed that “one of the men arrested was about to leave the country” from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport.
The second man was detained not long afterwards in the Paris region, media reports said.
Beccuau deplored the public revelation of the arrests, warning they “can only hinder the efforts of the 100 investigators mobilised” in the hunt for the jewels and the perpetrators.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez also called for confidentiality while congratulating the investigators “who have worked tirelessly”, in a post on X.
In the October 19 heist, the robbers went up an extendable ladder of a stolen movers’ truck and, using cutting equipment, broke into a gallery that houses royal gems.

They dropped a diamond- and emerald-studded crown as they fled down the ladder and onto scooters, but managed to steal eight other pieces, include an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon Bonaparte gave his wife, the Empress Marie-Louise.
The brazen theft made headlines across the world and sparked a debate in France about the security of cultural institutions.
The Louvre’s director has admitted the robbers had exploited a blind spot in the security surveillance of the museum’s outside walls.
But Beccuau said public and private security cameras elsewhere had allowed detectives to track the thieves “in Paris and in surrounding regions”.
Investigators were also able to find DNA samples and fingerprints at the scene from items left behind by the robbers as they fled, including gloves, a high-vis vest, a blowtorch and power tools.
The robbers also dropped a crown that once belonged to Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III, which was damaged and needs to be restored.


The rest of the pieces have not been recovered and risk being broken apart, their precious metal settings melted down.
Nunez expressed his “concern” for the jewellery in an interview with French weekly La Tribune Dimanche on Sunday. He said the heist appeared to have been carried out by an organised crime group but added that “thieves are always eventually caught”.
“The loot is unfortunately often stashed abroad. I hope that’s not the case - I remain confident,” he added.
The Louvre theft is the latest in a string of robberies targeting French museums.
Less than 24 hours after the Louvre break-in, a museum in eastern France reported the theft of gold and silver coins after finding a smashed display case.
Last month, criminals broke into Paris’ Natural History Museum, making off with gold nuggets worth more than US$1.5 million. A Chinese woman has been detained and charged with involvement in the theft.
Culture Minister Rachida Dati said on X on Friday she had requested findings from an investigation into the Louvre’s security to “announce concrete measures to secure” the museum.
In the meantime, head of the National Assembly’s cultural affairs committee, Alexandre Portier, proposed an amendment to the budget currently being debated to create “an emergency fund to secure national heritage” of €50 million (US$58 million).


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France

French police arrest 2 suspects in Paris Louvre jewel heist

People stand outside the Louvre museum in Paris on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Jewels stolen from the Louvre museum. Photo: Interpol via AP

A crane used in the robbery. Photo: Reuters

The Louvre heist: which high jewellery pieces once worn by French royals were stolen?

The world is in shock after many of the Louvre’s most prized jewellery pieces were stolen during a seven-minute heist on Sunday. Photo: AFP

A wedding couple hugs as visitors queue to enter the Louvre museum three days after historic jewels were stolen in a daring daylight heist, on October 22, in Paris. Photo: AP Photo

A board reads that the opening of the Louvre museum is delayed, but it remained closed for the day after Sunday’s jewels robbery. Photo: AP Photo

Thieves raided Paris’ Louvre museum in broad daylight on October 19, taking just seven minutes to grab some of France’s priceless crown jewels, but dropping a gem-encrusted crown as they fled, officials and sources said. Photo: AP

A tiara adorned with pearls worn by French Empress Eugénie. Photo: Handout

A jewel-encrusted brooch worn by French Empress Eugénie. Photo: Handout

The “parure de la reine Marie-Amelie et de la Reine Hortense” (set of jewellery of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense) at Apollon’s Gallery at the Louvre museum in Paris. Photo: AFP

A crown worn by French Empress Eugénie was targeted by thieves during a heist at Paris’ Louvre Museum on October 19, but was dropped during their escape. Photo: Handout

Louvre chief admits CCTV gaps enabled heist, says she offered to resign

A visitor takes a picture of a painting at the Louvre on the day it reopened to the public for the first time since last Sunday’s heist. Photo: Reuters

Louvre director Laurence des Cars before being questioned by senators. Photo: EPA

Visitors queue to enter the Louvre, three days after historic jewels were stolen. Photo: AP

A surveillance camera outside the Louvre. Photo: AP

Louvre jewels may be irrecoverable as French police race against time

The boarded up window where thieves entered the Louvre to steal priceless royal jewellery. Photo: AFP

A security employee near the glass Pyramid of the Louvre Museum, which was closed on Monday. Photo: Reuters

A tiara, which was among the items stolen. Photo: Louvre Museum via Reuters

A jewel-encrusted brooch, which was among the items stolen. Photo: Louvre Museum via Reuters

A crown worn by French Empress Eugenie, which was targeted by thieves, but was dropped during their escape. Photo: Louvre Museum via Reuters

Paris Louvre heist jewels valued at over US$100 million as security row deepens

Visitors queue to enter the Louvre, three days after historic jewels were stolen in a daring heist. Photo: AP

A tiara adorned with pearls worn by French Empress Eugenie was among the items stolen by thieves. Photo: Louvre Museum via Reuters

France hunts thieves who stole crown jewels from Louvre in daring minutes-long heist

Members of a forensics team inspect a window believed to have been used in the robbery. Photo: Reuters

The Apollo Gallery that houses the French crown jewels. Photo: Olivia Wong via Reuters

A necklace that Napoleon gave his wife, Empress Marie Louise. Photo: AFP

A crown of Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III. Photo: AFP

The powered, extendable ladder that was used by the thieves to access one of the upper floors of the museum. Photo: EPA

News

World

Europe

Arrests follow a massive manhunt for the thieves who stole US$102 million in royal gems, exposing security flaws at the Paris museum


Arrests follow a massive manhunt for the thieves who stole US$102 million in royal gems, exposing security flaws at the Paris museum.
