Topline
Police in France made arrests Saturday night for the jewelry theft at the Louvre last week, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement, including one who was apprehended trying to flee the country at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport.
The Paris prosecutor’s office did not confirm exactly how many people were arrested.
Getty Images
Key Facts
The arrests took place Saturday evening, Beccuau said, but the prosecutor’s office provided few other details, including the exact number of people arrested, insisting it was still “too early” and would provide more information after this “phase of police custody.”
Reports of the arrests were first published in Le Parisien and other French news sources earlier Sunday, before the official announcement from prosecutors.
Beccuau condemned leaks about the arrests, which she said would harm the efforts of about 100 investigators deployed to search for the jewels and the thieves.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez in a statement on X, congratulated investigators for the arrests, while also calling for continued secrecy while the investigation continues.
What We Don’t Know
Authorities have not identified the suspects and it is not clear what charges they face. It is also not clear whether any of the jewels the thieves got away with have been recovered.
Key Background
The stunning heist at the iconic art museum took place in broad daylight last Sunday, when a group of four thieves riding scooters used a lift to access the Galerie d’Apollon—a wing of the museum that houses France’s crown jewels. The thieves used small chainsaws called angle grinders to break in and nab a number of “priceless” pieces of jewelry, including a crown worn by Empress Eugénie, Emperor Napoleon III’s wife, which was later found damaged after being dropped by the escaping thieves. The stolen items also included a tiara worn by Eugénie, as well as necklaces, earrings, another tiara and a reliquary brooch worn by other French royals. The entire heist took place in less than 10 minutes, according to investigators.
Big Number
$102 million. That’s how much the jewels are worth, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. However, this value does not include their historical value to the nation. The jewels were not privately insured, the New York Times reported, like many other priceless works of art at the French museum.