Police in Paris have detained five additional individuals connected to the robbery at the Apollo gallery of the Louvre museum, where treasures valued at $143 million Cdn were stolen. The theft, carried out by four masked thieves during museum hours on October 19, highlighted security vulnerabilities at the renowned museum. The arrests were made following coordinated police operations in Paris and its suburbs, with one suspect identified through DNA evidence found at the crime scene. Authorities are examining encrypted communications retrieved from items belonging to the suspects to advance the investigation.
In France, suspects under investigation for criminal conspiracy can be held for up to 96 hours without formal charges. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau disclosed that a specialized police unit is actively searching the black market for the missing artifacts, as the stolen jewels could be utilized for money laundering or as bargaining tools in organized crime circles. However, recovering the stolen jewels may prove more challenging than identifying the perpetrators, according to experts in art crime.
Beccuau urged anyone in possession of the stolen treasures to surrender them, emphasizing that the courts would consider the absence of any financial losses resulting from the burglary. The Louvre’s security cameras failed to detect the intrusion promptly, leading to the transfer of some valuable jewels to the Bank of France for safekeeping under police escort. Beccuau did not rule out the involvement of a broader network in the heist, possibly including individuals who orchestrated the theft.
Prior to the recent arrests, two men implicated in the robbery had admitted partial involvement, with one attempting to flee the country but being apprehended before boarding a flight. One of the detainees, a 34-year-old Algerian national residing in France, was intercepted at the airport, while the other, aged 39, was already under judicial supervision for an unrelated theft offense. Both individuals reside in Aubervilliers, a district in northern Paris.
