PARIS (AP) — 5 extra individuals have been arrested within the investigation into the theft of crown jewels from the Louvre Museum, however the treasures stay lacking, the Paris prosecutor introduced Thursday.
The 5 have been detained late Wednesday evening in separate police operations in Paris and surrounding areas, together with the Seine-Saint-Denis area, Prosecutor Laure Beccuau instructed RTL radio. She didn’t launch their identities or different particulars.
One is suspected of being a part of the four-person group that robbed the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery in broad daylight Oct. 19, the prosecutor mentioned. Two different members of the group have been arrested Sunday and given preliminary fees Wednesday of felony conspiracy and theft dedicated by an organized gang. Each partially admitted their involvement, in response to the prosecutor.
“Searches last night and overnight did not allow us to find the goods,” Beccuau mentioned.
It took thieves lower than eight minutes to steal the jewels valued at 88 million euros ($102 million), surprising the world. The robbers pressured open a window, lower into circumstances with energy instruments and fled with eight items of the French crown jewels.
French police have acknowledged main gaps within the Louvre’s defenses, turning the dazzling daylight theft right into a nationwide reckoning over how France protects its treasures.
A type of who has been charged is a 34-year-old Algerian nationwide who has been residing in France since 2010, Beccuau mentioned. He was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to fly to Algeria with no return ticket. He was residing in a suburb north of Paris, Aubervilliers, and was recognized to police largely for street site visitors offenses. His DNA was discovered on one of many scooters utilized by robbers to go away the scene, she mentioned.
The opposite suspect, 39, was arrested at his house in Aubervilliers. The person was recognized to police for a number of thefts, and his DNA was discovered on one of many glass circumstances the place the jewels have been displayed and on gadgets the thieves left behind, she added.
Video surveillance cameras confirmed there have been at the least 4 individuals concerned, Beccuau mentioned.
4 of the suspects arrived onboard a truck geared up with a freight carry that two of them used to climb as much as the museum’s window. The 4 of them left onboard two motor scooters alongside the Seine River towards japanese Paris, the place they’d another automobiles parked, she mentioned.
Beccuau mentioned nothing means that the robbers had accomplices throughout the museum’s employees.
She made a plea Wednesday evening to those that have the jewels: “These jewels are now, of course, unsellable … Anyone who buys them would be guilty of concealment of stolen goods. There’s still time to give them back.”
Nathan Laine/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photos
Details about investigations is supposed to be secret underneath French legislation to keep away from compromising police work and to make sure victims’ proper to privateness. Solely the prosecutor can communicate publicly about developments, and violators will be prosecuted. Police and investigators aren’t speculated to reveal details about arrests or suspects with out the prosecutor’s approval, although in high-profile circumstances, police union officers have leaked partial particulars.
