French authorities arrest four more suspects in the Louvre jewel heist investigation, bringing the total to eight people charged over the $102 million daylight robbery.
PARIS: French authorities have arrested four more people in connection with last month’s spectacular daylight theft of imperial jewels from the Louvre museum.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirmed the arrests of two men aged 38 and 39, and two women aged 31 and 40, all from the Paris region.
The new arrests follow earlier charges against four others over the October 19 heist that saw thieves steal jewellery worth an estimated $102 million.
A four-member gang executed the brazen robbery in just seven minutes before fleeing on scooters from the world’s most-visited art museum.
The thieves parked a moving truck with a ladder below the museum’s Apollo Gallery, which houses the French crown jewels.
They ascended in a bucket, broke a window and used angle grinders to cut into glass display booths containing the priceless treasures.
Among the items stolen was an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave to his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise.
The thieves dropped a diamond-and-emerald-studded crown that once belonged to Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, during their escape.
The stolen jewels, totaling eight items, have not been recovered by authorities.
The four previously charged include three men and one woman, with one of the men being in a relationship with the female suspect.
