French law enforcement officers have arrested four more people in connection with last month's striking robbery of crown jewels worth approximately 88 million euros (77 million pounds) from the Louvre, the Paris prosecutor's office announced. The Guardian reports this, writes UNN.
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"These are two men aged 38 and 39 and two women aged 31 and 40, all from the Paris region," said Laure Beccuau. French media reported that among those arrested was the last member of the four-person gang who carried out the museum break-in.
Le Parisien newspaper, citing police sources, reported that the suspect was detained on Tuesday morning and is currently at the police station. He is charged with organized theft and criminal conspiracy.
According to the publication, the thieves allegedly parked a stolen truck near the museum and used an extendable ladder and a freight elevator to reach a first-floor window of the Apollo Gallery during the October 19 theft — one of the most audacious robberies in modern French history.
Two attackers smashed an unprotected window and two glass display cases in the gallery, then descended by elevator. Two other gang members waited for them on motorcycles, on which they all fled the crime scene during the audacious daytime robbery, which lasted less than seven minutes from start to finish.
Louvre moved some jewels after daring robbery25.10.25, 11:00 • [views_3784]
The gang escaped with eight pieces of jewelry, including an emerald and diamond necklace given by Napoleon Bonaparte to his second wife Marie Louise, and a tiara with 212 pearls and almost 2,000 diamonds that previously belonged to Napoleon III's wife.
No jewels have been found yet. DNA analysis left at the crime scene (including gloves, a vest, and disc knives) led to the arrest a week later of a pair of suspects in the museum break-in, identified as Ayed G. and Abdoulaye N.
A third man, Slimane K., suspected of driving one of the two scooters used during the theft, was arrested a few days later. One of the men arrested on Tuesday is believed to be the second driver and the fourth member of the team.
A fifth suspect, accused of assisting the gang, has also already been prosecuted. France's state auditor this month called the theft a "loud alarm signal" due to the "completely insufficient speed" of updating security systems at the world's most visited museum.
The Louvre management accepted "most" of the auditor's remarks. An administrative investigation into the theft revealed "chronic, structural underestimation of the risk of intrusion and theft" and "insufficient security."