French authorities detain two suspects in the Louvre jewel theft, with one attempting to flee to Algeria as the stolen crown jewels remain missing
PARIS: French authorities have detained two suspected robbers believed to have stolen precious crown jewels from the Louvre in a museum heist that stunned the world.
A swarm of investigators mobilised to track down the thieves who robbed the world-renowned museum in broad daylight on October 19.
The robbers made off with jewellery worth an estimated 102 million US dollars in just a few minutes.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirmed authorities carried out arrests on Saturday evening.
One of the men arrested was about to leave the country from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport.
A source close to the case told AFP the man was about to board a plane for Algeria.
The second man had been detained not long afterward in the Paris region according to media reports.
Both men were taken into police custody on suspicion of organised theft and criminal conspiracy.
They could be held up to 96 hours under French law.
Beccuau deplored the public revelation of the arrests which were first reported in media outlets.
She warned that such disclosures can only hinder the efforts of the 100 investigators mobilised in the hunt.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez called for confidentiality while congratulating the investigators who have worked tirelessly.
In the heist last Sunday, robbers clambered up the extendable ladder of a stolen movers’ truck.
Using cutting equipment, they broke into a first-floor gallery that houses royal gems.
They dropped a diamond and emerald studded crown as they fled down the ladder onto scooters.
They managed to steal eight other pieces including an emerald and diamond necklace that Napoleon Bonaparte gave his wife Empress Marie-Louise.
The brazen theft has made headlines across the world and sparked a debate in France about cultural institution security.
The Louvre’s director admitted the robbers had taken advantage of a blind spot in the museum’s outside wall surveillance.
Beccuau said public and private security cameras elsewhere allowed detectives to track the thieves in Paris and surrounding regions.
Investigators found DNA samples and fingerprints at the scene from items left behind by the fleeing robbers.
Left items included gloves, a high visibility vest, a blowtorch and power tools.
They also dropped a crown that once belonged to Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III.
The damaged crown requires restoration while the remaining stolen pieces have not been recovered.
Authorities fear the missing jewellery might be broken apart with precious metal settings melted down.
Nunez expressed his concern for the jewellery in an interview with French weekly La Tribune Dimanche.
He said the heist appeared to have been carried out by an organised crime group.
Nunez added that thieves are always eventually caught while hoping the loot has not been stashed abroad.
The Louvre theft represents 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 stolen gold and silver coins.
Last month criminals broke into Paris’s Natural History Museum stealing gold nuggets worth over 1.5 million US dollars.
A Chinese woman has been detained and charged with involvement in that theft.
Culture Minister Rachida Dati requested findings from a Louvre security investigation by early next week.
She plans to announce concrete measures to secure the museum following the security review. – AFP
