“Great progress has been made,” prosecutor Laure Beccuau said during a press conference on Wednesday. She emphasized the “exceptional commitment” of the investigators who had conducted a “continuous manhunt”. This allowed French investigators to arrest two suspects for the theft in the Louvre on Saturday evening. The suspects were already known to law enforcement and were about to flee the country. They are 34 and 39 years old, Beccuau confirms.
New details about spectacular Louvre art theft: alarm went off immediately, crucial traces found
“At this point, both have partially admitted to investigators their involvement in the events. They are currently being brought before the investigating judges to face charges of organized theft, a crime punishable by a prison sentence of 15 years and a large fine,” the Paris prosecutor said on Wednesday.
Jewelry heist
On October 19, the thieves stole eight valuable pieces with an estimated value of 88 million euros from the Louvre collection. They climbed onto a balcony using a moving lift and broke open an upstairs window. This way they could get to the Apollo Gallery. This also exposed the security of the world’s most visited museum. The thieves then fled on motorcycles.
The stolen jewelry has not yet been recovered. “I want to remain hopeful that they will be found and returned to the Louvre and, more broadly, to the nation,” said prosecutor Beccuau. At this time, there would be no indication that the thieves received help from inside the museum.