Arrests over crown jewel theft in Paris

Several people were arrested in connection with the crown jewels robbery from the Louvre Museum in Paris, a Paris prosecutor said Sunday, a week after the shameless robbery in the most visited museum in the world.

The prosecutor said investigators made the arrests on Saturday night, adding that one of the detained men was preparing to leave the country from Paris’ Roissy airport.

French media BFM TV and newspaper Le Parisien previously reported that two suspects had been arrested and taken into custody. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau did not confirm the number of arrests or say whether jewelry had been recovered.

The thieves took less than eight minutes to steal jewelry valued at $102 million last Sunday morning.

Questions have been raised about security at the museum and whether security cameras could have failed when thieves rode a basket lift to the Louvre façade, crashed through a window, smashed display cases and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels. The museum director called the incident a “terrible failure.”

Beccuau said investigators from a special police unit in charge of armed robberies, serious robberies and art thefts made the arrests. He regretted in his statement the premature leak of information, stating that it could hinder the work of more than 100 investigators “mobilized to recover the stolen jewelry and arrest all the perpetrators.” Beccuau said more details will be revealed once the suspects’ custody period ends.

The French Minister of the Interior, Laurent Núñez, praised “the investigators who have worked tirelessly, as I asked them to, and who have always had my full confidence.”

The robbery targeted the Golden Apollo Gallery, where the crown diamonds are displayed. eight objects According to officials, they took: a sapphire tiara, a necklace and a single earring from a matching set linked to 19th-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and earrings from the matching set of Empress Marie Louise, second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte; a locket brooch; and Empress Eugenie’s diadem and her large bow brooch, a prized imperial ensemble from the 19th century.

One piece, Eugénie’s imperial crown set with emeralds and more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum, damaged but salvageable.

The crown jewels are priceless in historical terms, but experts have told News themezone that they would still be worth millions of dollars if they were broken up and sold on the black market.

the jewels were not privately insuredstated the French Ministry of Culture in a press release to the newspaper Le Parisien. French law prohibits entities like the Louvre from insuring its property, except when part of a collection is moved or loaned to another institution, Romain Déchelette, president of Serex Assurances, a France-based fine arts insurer, told News themezone.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.