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Paris prosecutor on Tuesday announced four more arrests linked to the major jewellery heist at the Louvre Museum in October, where a gang escaped with jewels worth $102 million. Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the two men and two women arrested are from the Paris region and are between 31 and 40 years old. Her statement did not specify their suspected roles in the 19 October theft. Police can question them for up to 96 hours. French media reported that one of the arrested individuals, a 39-year-old already known to police, is believed to be the fourth member of the group that carried out the daytime robbery. He is said to be from Aubervilliers, a suburb north of Paris, where other suspects also have links. The other three suspected gang members had been arrested earlier. They face preliminary charges of theft by an organised group and criminal conspiracy. Investigators say their DNA was found at the scene or on items connected to the robbery. A woman arrested in October is accused of helping the team.
The stolen jewels have not been recovered. The collection includes a diamond-and-emerald necklace given by Napoleon to Empress Marie-Louise, pieces linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Amelie and Hortense, and a pearl-and-diamond tiara worn by Empress Eugenie. The robbery has raised concerns about security at the Louvre, one of the world’s most visited museums. According to investigators, the thieves took less than eight minutes to enter and leave the museum. They used a freight lift to reach a window, broke in, and moved to the Apollo Gallery. Camera footage shows two suspects cutting open display cases with disc cutters while two others waited on scooters outside. One stolen item — Empress Eugénie’s emerald-set crown with more than 1,300 diamonds was later found outside the museum.