Two of the four men suspected of carrying out a daring jewel heist at the Louvre last week were arrested last night (Saturday), Le Parisien reported.
During the broad-daylight heist last Sunday morning, the perpetrators used a basket lift to reach a window on the iconic museum's Seine-facing façade, cut through panes with a disc cutter, and smashed display cases in the Apollon Gallery - home to France’s Crown Jewels. The stolen items include a sapphire diadem, necklace, and earring linked to Queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and earrings from Empress Marie-Louise; a reliquary brooch; Empress Eugénie’s diadem; and her corsage-bow brooch.
The stolen items were valued at a collective $100 million. One item - the emerald-studded crown of Empress Eugénie - was later recovered outside the museum, reportedly damaged. None of the other jewels have been recovered, even after the arrest of two of the suspects.
One of the suspects in the robbery, who was not named, was arrested while attempting to board a flight to Algeria at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, after police received a tip that the suspect would attempt to flee the country. The second suspect was arrested shortly afterward in Paris.
Police are still searching for two additional suspects who participated in the heist.