Two suspects arrested in connection with €88 million jewel heist at Paris’ Louvre Museum
French police detain two suspects after DNA evidence links them to one of the most audacious thefts in decades, Louvre tightens security as investigation continues.
Paris, Oct 27: French police have arrested two suspects in connection with the theft of crown jewels worth €88 million from Paris’s Louvre Museum, a week after what authorities have called one of France’s most spectacular heists in decades.
According to the Paris Prosecutor’s Office, the arrests were made on Saturday evening, with one suspect apprehended at Charles de Gaulle Airport as he prepared to board a flight. Officials confirmed that another suspect was detained in the Paris region, though they did not reveal whether any of the stolen jewels have yet been recovered.
One suspect was reportedly preparing to travel to Algeria, and the other to Mali, according to police sources cited by BBC. DNA evidence found at the crime scene is believed to have led investigators to one of the men.
The heist occurred last Sunday morning, when four masked thieves armed with power tools broke into the Galerie d’Apollon (Gallery of Apollo) the section housing France’s royal jewels in broad daylight. The robbers used a mechanical lift to access a first floor balcony near the River Seine, cutting through a window before threatening security guards and smashing two display cases.
The entire operation lasted just four minutes, police said. The gang fled the scene on two scooters, leaving behind gloves, a high-visibility jacket, and even a crown once belonging to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.
French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin admitted that the incident reflected a “failure in security protocols”, calling it a “terrible image” for the country. A preliminary report revealed that one in three rooms in the raided section of the museum had no CCTV cameras, and that the only exterior camera facing the break-in point was angled away from the balcony.
Louvre Director Laurence des Cars told French senators earlier this week that the museum’s outdated surveillance system contributed to the breach. Security across France’s major cultural institutions has since been tightened, and several of the museum’s most valuable jewels have been moved to secure vaults at the Bank of France, stored 26 metres below ground level.
Experts fear that the stolen jewels may already have been dismantled or sold off, complicating recovery efforts. The Paris Prosecutor’s Office also criticized the premature disclosure of details about the ongoing investigation, warning that it could hamper attempts to locate the remaining suspects and recover the missing artifacts.
