French officials announced Sunday that several suspects have been apprehended in connection with the crown jewel heist from the Louvre Museum in Paris last weekend.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau stated that investigators conducted the arrests on Saturday evening, with one individual detained as he was on the verge of departing the country from an unspecified location.
Beccuau refrained from confirming the precise number of arrests, though earlier reports from French media outlets BFM TV and Le Parisien newspaper indicated that two suspects had been apprehended and taken into custody. She did not disclose whether the stolen jewels had been recovered.
The perpetrators spent less than eight minutes acquiring jewels valued at 88 million euros ($102 million) — a prominent theft that provoked a national introspection and astonished the global community.
French officials detailed that the group of thieves utilized a basket lift to ascend the Louvre’s exterior, then forced a window open, shattered display cases, and escaped. Laurence des Cars, the Louvre’s director, conceded that the museum’s security had experienced a “terrible failure.”
Beccuau mentioned that investigators from a unit specializing in armed robberies, serious burglaries, and art thefts carried out the arrests. She expressed concern that an early release of information might impede the efforts of more than 100 investigators “dedicated to retrieving the stolen jewels and capturing all those involved.”
Beccuau indicated that additional information would be disclosed once the suspects’ detention period concludes.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez commended the investigators for their persistent efforts, stating they consistently held his “full confidence.”
The thieves made off with a total of eight objects, among them an item from a collection associated with 19th-century queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense. An emerald necklace and earrings connected to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, along with a reliquary brooch, were also taken. Empress Eugénie’s diamond diadem and her substantial corsage-bow brooch — an imperial collection of exceptional artistry — were likewise among the stolen valuables.
Eugénie’s imperial crown, adorned with emeralds and over 1,300 diamonds, was subsequently discovered outside the museum, having sustained damage but still salvageable.
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