A French public prosecutor expressed frustration regarding the premature disclosure of the arrests of two suspects implicated in the Louvre jewelry heist. Confirming the arrests made on Saturday night, French public prosecutor Laure Beccuau criticized the hasty revelation of the information by individuals with inside knowledge, emphasizing the detrimental impact on the ongoing investigation involving around a hundred investigators pursuing the stolen jewelry and all accomplices.
Although the exact number of arrests was not disclosed, Ms. Beccuau mentioned that one man was apprehended while preparing to depart from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Reports from French media indicate that a second individual was also detained on the same evening in the Paris region. Authorities have not provided updates on the whereabouts of the stolen jewels taken from the Louvre.
According to Le Parisien, both suspects are originally from Seine-Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. Law enforcement swiftly apprehended them in rapid operations after monitoring their activities for several days, acting promptly when it became apparent that one of them was planning to flee the country, with reports suggesting a flight to Algeria.
Ms. Beccuau, serving as the Paris Prosecutor and head of France’s anti-organized crime jurisdiction known as JUNALCO, emphasized that it is premature to release further details at this stage. The suspects are currently under pre-trial detention as authorities investigate charges related to “organized theft” and “criminal conspiracy to commit a crime.” They can be held for up to 96 hours, with Ms. Beccuau indicating that additional information will be shared once the police custody period concludes.
France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez commended the investigators for their diligent work and emphasized the importance of continuing the investigations while upholding the inquiry’s confidentiality. The suspects are believed to be linked to the criminal gang responsible for the daring daylight robbery at the renowned museum, where masked individuals utilized a cherry picker to access a window in the Apollo Gallery and made off with jewels valued at £76 million.
The stolen items from the audacious raid include several irreplaceable royal pieces such as sapphire and emerald necklaces, along with a diamond brooch containing 2,438 diamonds. Additionally, the thieves took the emerald crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie, but dropped it during their escape; fortunately, the damaged crown was later recovered.
