New images of the escape of the thieves from the Louvre Museum. Credit line: Poitout Florian/ABACA / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
Two men were arrested by the French judicial police in the case of the spectacular robbery at Lucru last Sunday, according to information obtained by the newspaper Le Parisien.
On Saturday evening, an emergency operation was launched as part of the investigation into the historic robbery at the famous Parisian museum and the disappearance of royal jewels of inestimable value, the French newspaper writes.
Two men were detained by the judicial police, according to the publication
The judicial inquiry into the heist of the century at the Louvre, France's priceless crown jewels stolen in a daring heist on October 18, has accelerated.
According to Le Parisien sources, two suspects were arrested on Saturday evening and remanded in custody as part of the open investigation for “organized gang theft” and “association for the purpose of committing a crime” led by the Paris Anti-Bandit Brigade (BRB) and the Central Office for Combating Trafficking in Cultural Goods (OCBC).
The two men, originally from Seine-Saint-Denis and aged around 30, are suspected of being part of the group of four criminals who broke into France's most famous museum using a truck equipped with a platform.
There, equipped with yellow vests and motorcycle helmets, the thieves broke the window leading to the Apollo gallery, the museum display case where the French Crown jewels are displayed, and after cutting the display cases with the flex, they got their hands on royal treasures that belonged to several French sovereigns, especially Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.
What prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on Saturday
The information came after French investigators said they had analyzed more than 150 samples of DNA, fingerprints and other traces found on tools left by thieves who broke into the Louvre Museum and made off with 88 million euros of royal jewels.
On Saturday, six days after the audacious heist from the world's most visited museum, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said she had “a little hope” that the jewels could be recovered and was “optimistic” about the outcome of the investigation.
“In the coming days, the results could give us clues, especially if the perpetrators have a criminal record,” the prosecutor told the French publication Ouest-Franc.
The thieves failed, in their haste, to set fire to the truck, and left behind a helmet, grinders, cutting discs, a reflective vest and other items, said Laure Beccuau, all of which are being analyzed in forensic laboratories in Paris and the surrounding area.
She added that careful analysis of video footage from public and private surveillance cameras, including from highways, helped investigators trace the gang's route “in Paris and the surrounding areas.”
