French police officers patrol in front of the Louvre Museum after it was robbed, with the Louvre Pyramid designed by Ieoh Ming Pei in the background, in Paris on 19 October, 2025. Photo: AFP
French police have arrested five more people, including a prime suspect, over this month's daring Louvre museum jewellery robbery, the Paris prosecutor says.
"We had him in our sights," Laure Beccuau said of the main suspect, adding that none of the loot worth an estimated $102 million had been found.
DNA evidence linked the main suspect to the theft, Beccuau said, suggesting he was among the four-man team that carried out the brazen 19 October heist.
"As for the other individuals who are in police custody, they are people who may be able to provide us with information about the course of events," she said, adding it was "too early" to give additional details about the suspects.
The five detentions took place on Wednesday (local time) in and around Paris, particularly in Seine-Saint-Denis, a region just outside the French capital.
Two suspects detained Saturday were charged on Wednesday with theft and criminal conspiracy after they "partially admitted to the charges", according to prosecutors. They were placed in pre-trial detention.
Dozens of detectives have been hunting four thieves who used a truck with a moving lift and cutting gear to break into a first-floor gallery at the museum, fleeing with eight precious pieces of jewellery.
Among them are an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his wife, Empress Marie-Louise, and a diadem that once belonged to the Empress Eugenie, which is dotted with nearly 2000 diamonds.
- AFP
