Four new suspects arrested in Louvre heist probe

Four new suspects arrested in Louvre heist probe
Reuters

French police arrested four further suspects on Tuesday as part of the investigation into the audacious Louvre jewel heist last month, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.

The suspects are two men aged 38 and 39 and two women aged 31 and 40, and were being interrogated by police, the statement said.

It did not disclose what role the four are suspected of playing in the daylight robbery, in which four thieves made off with jewels worth $102 million.

Four other people were arrested and placed under formal investigation on October 29 and November 1.

The Paris prosecutor had previously said the robbery appeared to be the work of small-time criminals rather than professional gangsters.

The heist raised doubts over the credibility of the world's most-visited museum as a guardian for its myriad works.

Two men parked a movers' lift outside the Louvre one Sunday morning last month. They rode up to the second storey, smashed a window, cracked open display cases with angle grinders, and then fled on the back of scooters driven by two accomplices in a heist lasting less than seven minutes.

So far, no trace has been found of the stolen jewels in the incident which occured in borad daylight on 19th October. 

The Louvre was shut for a few days while investigations commenced as concerns spread about the security situation of Museums where valuable artefacts are kept.

The Museum says it will install 100 external cameras by the end of 2026 as part of measures to tighten security after last month's spectacular heist.

Laurence Des Cars also told a National Assembly hearing that ties with Paris police would be tightened with the installation of an "advanced police station within the Louvre's estate"

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