Five new suspects arrested over Louvre jewellery theft

Five more suspects have been arrested over their involvement in the Louvre heist, Paris’ public prosecutor has said.

They were arrested on Wednesday night in the Paris region, Laure Beccuau’s office said.

A main suspect was among those taken into custody, AFP reported. The new arrests come after two men “partially recognised” their involvement in the brazen theft on Wednesday.

Items worth €88m (£76m; $102m) were taken from the world’s most-visited museum on 19 October, when four thieves broke into the building in broad daylight.

The precious jewels had not been recovered yet, Beccuau told French radio station RTL on Thursday.

She added that DNA from one of those arrested could be linked to the crime scene and that the person is thought to be part of the four-man team that carried out the heist, who were caught on CCTV.

The authorities believe that the gang involved in the heist could be bigger than those who physically stole the jewels.

French investigators are not giving many more details away at this stage but the new suspects can be detained for up to four days before being charged or released.

The first two people who were arrested over the heist - both men in their thirties with criminal records - are thought to be the pair who used power tools to enter the museum’s Apollon gallery and steal some of the French crown jewels.

They were taken into custody late last week. Beccuau told a press conference on Wednesday that one of the men was arrested as he tried to board a one-way flight to Algeria, but that the other man had not been planning to leave France, contrary to earlier media reports.

There was no evidence at this stage to suggest the theft was an inside job, she added, confirming no accomplices worked at the museum.

On the day of the heist, the robbers arrived at 09:30 (08:30 GMT), just after the museum opened to visitors, Beccuau said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The suspects arrived with a stolen vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to gain access to the Galerie d’Apollon (Gallery of Apollo) via a balcony close to the River Seine. The men used a disc cutter to crack open display cases housing the jewellery.

Beccuau said the thieves were inside for four minutes and made their escape on two scooters waiting outside at 09:38, before switching to cars and heading east. Nobody had been threatened during the raid.

Since the incident, security measures have been tightened around France’s cultural institutions.

The Louvre has transferred some of its most precious jewels to the Bank of France following the heist. They will now be stored in the Bank’s most secure vault, 26m (85ft) below the ground floor of its elegant headquarters in central Paris.

Source: BBC

- Agencies