As the number of arrests climbs to seven, none of the priceless Napoleonic-era jewellery has been recovered.
Paris police have arrested five new suspects in the Louvre crown jewel heist, the Paris prosecutor has confirmed, a day after prosecutors said two other suspects had “partially” admitted to charges of theft and conspiracy.
The group includes one “main” suspect, according to Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau, the AFP news agency reported on Thursday. Quoting judiciary sources, radio station RTL said the arrests unfolded simultaneously throughout the Paris area late on Wednesday evening.
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“We had him in our sights,” Beccuau said of the prime suspect.
Details of the five Thursday arrests, including the suspects’ identities, were not immediately available.
On the morning of October 19, as visitors roamed the halls of the world’s most-visited museum, a group of intruders broke into the Apollo Gallery through an upstairs window and snatched eight pieces of priceless jewellery in a four-minute heist that has reverberated through the art world.
The stolen jewels, which have not been recovered, included 19th-century tiaras, necklaces, earrings and a brooch belonging to the wives of French Emperor Napoleon I and Napoleon III.
Since then, investigators have raced to locate the thieves, initially believed to include at least four people.
On Wednesday, Beccuau said two suspects would be brought before magistrates to be charged with organised theft, which carries a 15-year prison sentence, and criminal conspiracy, punishable by 10 years.
The duo – a 34-year-old Algerian national and a 39-year-old who were arrested in the northern Paris suburb of Aubervilliers on Saturday – had “partially admitt[ed] to the charges”, Beccuau told a news conference.
Last week, the Louvre director told the French Senate the museum’s security operations “did not detect the arrival of the thieves soon enough”.
The Louvre curator has estimated the jewels amount to about 88 million euros ($102m) in value.
“Today we are experiencing a terrible failure at the Louvre, which I take my share of responsibility in,” the director said, adding that she submitted her resignation to the culture minister, who turned it down.
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