The Paris prosecutor announced on Sunday that two individuals have been apprehended in connection with the robbery of crown jewels from the Louvre museum. The arrests were made by investigators on Saturday evening, with one of the suspects intercepted while attempting to board a flight out of the country.
One of the suspects, who was on the verge of leaving France, was detained at Charles de Gaulle Airport around 10 p.m. on Saturday. The second suspect was captured later in the evening in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb located to the north of Paris. Authorities from Paris were not immediately reachable for further details.
The theft occurred on October 19 when thieves infiltrated the renowned museum and made off with eight valuable pieces of jewelry valued at approximately $143 million Cdn. The incident highlighted security vulnerabilities as the perpetrators used a crane to break through an upstairs window of the world’s most-visited museum during its regular opening hours, before fleeing on motorcycles.
The incident garnered global attention, triggering introspection in France regarding what some perceived as a national disgrace. According to the Le Parisien newspaper, the two suspects, both in their thirties and originating from the Seine-Saint-Denis area, were familiar to French law enforcement. One of the individuals was reportedly planning to travel to Algeria.