Five more people have been arrested following the broad daylight theft of French crown jewels from the Louvre Museum – but police are still yet to find the stolen items
Police investigating the theft of crown jewels from the Louvre Museum have arrested five more people. However, the missing treasures are yet to be found.
Prosecutor Laure Beccuau told RTL radio that police launched separate operations in Paris and surrounding areas to snare the five suspects on Wednesday night. Their identities have not yet been released.
The prosecutor said one of the five is suspected to have been part of the four-person team that robbed the Louvre in broad daylight on October 19. Two others alleged to have been part of that team were arrested on Sunday and given preliminary charges of criminal conspiracy and theft committed by an organised gang. Prosecutors say both admitted their involvement.
However, despite the investigation progressing at speed, the missing jewels remain unfound. “Searches last night and overnight did not allow us to find the goods,” Beccuau said.
It took thieves less than eight minutes to steal the jewels valued at roughly £78m. The robbers forced open a window, cut into cases with power tools and fled with eight pieces of the French crown jewels.
One of those who has been charged is a 34-year-old Algerian national who has been living in France since 2010, Beccuau said. He was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to fly to Algeria with no return ticket.
He was living in a suburb north of Paris, Aubervilliers, and was known to police mostly for road traffic offenses. His DNA was found on one of the scooters used to leave the scene, she said.
Another suspect, 39, was arrested at his home in Aubervilliers. The man was known to police for several thefts. His DNA was found on one of the glass cases where the jewels were displayed and on items the thieves left behind, she added.
Video surveillance cameras showed there were at least four criminals involved, Beccuau said. The team arrived onboard a truck equipped with a freight lift, which two of them used to climb up to the museum’s window.
The four of them left onboard two scooters along the Seine River toward eastern Paris, where other vehicles were parked, according to Beccuau She added nothing suggests the robbers had any accomplices within the museum’s staff.
She made a plea Wednesday night to those who have the jewels: “These jewels are now, of course, unsellable – Anyone who buys them would be guilty of concealment of stolen goods. There’s still time to give them back.”