Five new suspects have been arrested over the theft of France’s crown jewels from the Louvre museum, the Paris prosecutor announced Thursday, bringing the total number of arrests over the stunning heist to seven.
Of the five new suspects, one is believed to have been part of the four-man gang who carried out the heist, Laure Beccuau, the prosecutor, told French radio RTL. French police have made five new arrests in the investigation into the audacious theft of jewels worth an estimated $102 million from the Louvre Museum’s famed Galerie d’Apollon, the Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed on Thursday.
Speaking on RTL radio, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the suspects were apprehended during coordinated evening raids across several districts of the capital on Wednesday. One of the individuals was identified through DNA traces recovered at the scene of the crime. These developments follow the weekend detention of two other men, one of whom was caught attempting to leave France. According to Beccuau, both suspects have since “partially admitted” their roles in the theft, which has shaken public confidence in the security of one of the world’s most visited cultural institutions.
“Once we obtained partial confessions, we had to accelerate the arrest operations,” Beccuau explained, adding that although the jewels remain missing, investigators are hopeful that the latest suspects will shed light on the events surrounding the heist.