A French public prosecutor expressed frustration over the premature revelation of the arrests of two suspects involved in the Louvre jewelry heist.
Confirming the arrests made on Saturday night, French public prosecutor Laure Beccuau criticized the swift disclosure of information by informed individuals, emphasizing that it could hamper the investigative efforts of the numerous investigators working on recovering the stolen jewelry and apprehending all the perpetrators.
While not disclosing the exact number of individuals arrested, Ms. Beccuau mentioned that one man was apprehended at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport as he was preparing to leave the country. Reports from French media suggest that a second man was also arrested on the same evening in the Paris region. However, there was no update on the whereabouts of the stolen jewels from the Louvre.
According to French newspaper Le Parisien, both suspects are originally from Seine-Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, and were swiftly apprehended by the police in coordinated raids after being under surveillance for days. The arrest operation was triggered when authorities realized that one of the suspects was planning to flee the country, with reports indicating that one of the men was intercepted just before boarding a flight to Algeria.
Ms. Beccuau, serving as the Paris Prosecutor and heading France’s anti-organized crime jurisdiction known as JUNALCO, stated that it was premature to disclose further details at this stage.
The suspects are currently under pre-trial detention as the police investigate charges of “organized theft” and “criminal conspiracy to commit a crime.” They can be held for up to 96 hours, and Ms. Beccuau mentioned that more information regarding the case would be shared after the completion of the police custody period.
France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez commended the tireless efforts of the investigators and emphasized the importance of continuing the investigations while maintaining the confidentiality of the inquiry in a social media post.
The police suspect the arrested individuals to be part of the criminal gang responsible for the daring daylight robbery at the renowned museum. The thieves, wearing masks, used a cherry picker to access a window in the Apollo Gallery before making off with jewelry valued at £76 million.
The stolen items include several invaluable royal pieces such as sapphire and emerald necklaces, and a diamond brooch containing 2,438 diamonds. Additionally, the thieves attempted to take the emerald crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie, but dropped it during their escape. The damaged crown was later recovered.
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