Louvre heist: Two men arrested over suspicion of being involved in robbery

French authorities have arrested two men suspected of being involved in the brazen heist that took place at the Louvre Museum last week, according to French media reports. One of the suspects was detained around 10 pm on Saturday (Oct 25) at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to board an international flight. The second was arrested shortly after in the Paris region.

The two men are suspected of being part of four-man crew that robbed the world-renowned museum of its priceless crown jewels in broad daylight. The theives, who broke into the Apollo Gallery, managed the heist in just seven minutes shortly after the museum opened and fled with eight French imperial jewels worth an estimated $102 million. Dozens of investigators have been tasked with catching the culprits and retreiving the precious jewels.

The stolen items include an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his wife, Empress Marie-Louise, and a diadem that once belonged to the Empress Eugenie, which is dotted with nearly 2,000 diamonds.

Following the audacious theft, French authorities found a broken crown near the museum that once belonged to Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III. The crown is covered in 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds. The director of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars, said on Wednesday (Oct 22) that the initial assessment of the crown suggests that it could be restored.

Des Cars also admitted that there was inadequate security camera coverage of the outside walls of the museum. “Despite our efforts, despite our hard work on a daily basis, we failed,” she told lawmakers in her first public statement since the robbery. She added that while all alarms had functioned during the heist, security cameras did not adequately cover the thieves’ point of entry.

“The only camera installed is directed westward and therefore did not cover the balcony involved in the break-in,” she said. “There are some perimeter cameras, but they are ageing.” Surveillance of the museum’s outside walls “is highly insufficient.”