Two Louvre heist suspects ‘partially admit’ involvement, prosecutor says

Two men arrested in connection with the Louvre Museum robbery two weeks ago have “partially confessed” to their involvement in the brazen robbery, officials said.

The detained couple are suspected of being the ones who used power tools to enter the museum’s Apollon gallery and steal some of the French crown jewels.

Objects worth €88 million (£76 million; $102 million) were stolen from the world’s most visited museum on October 19, when four thieves broke into the building in broad daylight.

Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Bequiau said the jewelry had not yet been recovered, and that the gang involved may be larger than the four people captured on surveillance cameras.

The two men, both in their 30s, have criminal records and were identified through DNA found during investigations, Pekwao said.

One of the men was arrested while trying to board a one-way flight to Algeria, but Bekou said the other man was not planning to leave France, despite previous media reports.

She added that there is currently no evidence to indicate that the theft was an inside job, which confirms that there are no accomplices working at the museum.

But Biko said she did not rule out the possibility that it was about more than the four suspects caught on surveillance cameras, including people expecting to get the stolen jewelry.

“I want to remain optimistic about that [the jewels] “It will be found and can be returned to the Louvre, and more widely to the nation.”

The thieves dropped the tiara that belonged to Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, as they fled. Pekwao added that the damage to the crown is still being assessed.

on Sunday, when the arrests were made. The prosecutor criticized the “early disclosure” of information related to the caseAdding that it hampered efforts to recover the jewelry and find the thieves.

On the day of the robbery, the thieves arrived at 09:30 (08:30 GMT), immediately after the museum opened to visitors, Bekwu said at a conference on Wednesday.

The suspects arrived in a stolen mechanical elevator mounted on a vehicle to access the Galerie d’Apollon (Apollo Gallery) via a balcony near the Seine River. The men used a disc cutter to break open display cases containing the jewelry.

She said the thieves remained inside for four minutes and escaped on two motorbikes that waited outside at 09:38, before changing into cars and heading east.

She told reporters that no one was threatened during the raid.

Since the incident, security measures have been tightened around cultural institutions in France.

The Louvre Museum transferred some of its most valuable jewels to the Bank of France after the robbery. It will now be stored in the bank’s most secure vault, 26 meters (85 feet) below the ground floor of its elegant headquarters in central Paris.