French authorities have arrested two men suspected of involvement in the daring daylight robbery at Paris’s Louvre Museum, where priceless crown jewels worth €88 million (approximately ₹790 crore) were stolen last Sunday, according to Le Parisien.
Both suspects hail from the Parisian suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, Le Parisien reported. One of them was apprehended while allegedly attempting to board a flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport, BBC reported. The duo, known to police for previous burglaries, were detained on Saturday evening. Specialist investigators have taken over the case and can interrogate the men for up to 96 hours, according to French media reports.
The high-profile theft took place around 9:30 a.m. local time, shortly after the museum opened to visitors. The gang of four arrived in a vehicle equipped with a mechanical lift, which they used to access the Galerie d’Apollon (Gallery of Apollo) through a balcony overlooking the River Seine.
Photographs from the scene showed a ladder propped against a first-floor window. Two of the robbers reportedly cut through the window using power tools, threatened museum guards, and ordered them to evacuate. They then smashed open two display cases containing the royal jewels before fleeing.
French police said the operation lasted just four minutes, with the thieves escaping on two scooters waiting nearby at 9:38 a.m.
Louvre Security Under Scrutiny
According to the BBC, a preliminary report cited by local outlets revealed glaring security lapses inside the Louvre, with one in three rooms in the targeted area lacking CCTV coverage. Following the incident, France’s Justice Minister acknowledged that the security system had “failed,” admitting that the heist had left the country with a “terrible image.”
Authorities have since bolstered security measures at major cultural institutions across France as the incident reignited debate over how well-protected the country’s cultural treasures are. The theft came just a month after another daring crime in Paris, when intruders broke into the Natural History Museum and stole gold nuggets worth over $1.5 million.
