At least 3 suspects in Louvre heist case arrested by French police: reports

Earlier on Sunday, French media BFM TV and Le Parisien newspaper, citing sources close to the investigation, reported that two suspects in the heist were arrested by authorities. One of the two suspects was about to leave the country and was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport at about 10 pm (local time) on Saturday. Another suspect was arrested later in the evening in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb north of Paris.

Beccuau said investigators from the anti-gang brigade made the arrests; however, did not confirm the total number of arrests. She stated that premature leak of information could hinder the work of over 100 investigators “mobilised to recover the stolen jewels and all of the perpetrators”, reported by news agency AP.

How the heist unfolded

The robbery at Louvre’s Galerie d’Apollon, home to France’s Crown Jewels, was executed in the early hours of October 19.

According to investigators, four masked thieves, dressed in bright yellow jackets, used a cherry picker to access the museum’s upper windows.

At 9:34 am (local time), they broke the window and headed straight to the Galerie d’Apollon where smashed the glass cases and stole the jewels. The suspects then fled on motorbikes by 9:38 am.

Authorities believe the group had studied the museum’s layout in advance and exploited security blind spots.

Louvre director Laurence des Cars later admitted “a terrible failure” in surveillance coverage and staffing, telling lawmakers that gaps in exterior camera monitoring and crowd-control pressures had been flagged for months.

What was stolen?

In all, eight items, valued at $102 million, were stolen. A ninth, the 1,300-diamond-studded crown once belonging to Empress Eugenie of France, was recovered from the scene, seemingly dropped by the intruders and damaged, according to an Interpol report.

The missing pieces include sapphire, emerald and diamond suites once owned by France’s 19th-century monarchs, including Marie-Amélie, Hortense, Marie-Louise and Empress Eugénie.

Among the stolen items were Eugenie’s wedding crown, set with nearly 2,000 diamonds and 200 pearls, and a sapphire-and-diamond diadem worn by Queen Marie-Amelie.

Also missing is an emerald-and-diamond necklace gifted by Napoleon Bonaparte to his second wife Marie-Louise of Austria in 1810, along with matching earrings, a reliquary brooch, and a large diamond-studded bodice bow.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez called the theft an “immeasurable” heritage loss, and the museum says the pieces carry “inestimable” historic weight, calling the theft not just a financial blow but a cultural wound.

Experts warn that the jewels are likely being dismantled and sold off on the black market, making recovery almost impossible. “If these gems are broken up and sold off, they will, in effect, vanish from history,” AP quoted Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds as saying.

The stolen jewels have been added to the Interpol’s Stolen Works of Art database, which combines descriptions and pictures of more than 57,000 items from around the world.

(With AP inputs)