In the case of a historic four-man Louvre heist that successfully swooped away 8 crown jewels worth an estimated $102 million in less than 7 minutes, two arrested suspects have “partially admitted” to their involvement in the robbery. Despite the positive development on this front, there still seems to be no progress in terms of recovering the precious stolen items.
“Both have partially admitted their involvement to investigators,” leading prosecutor Laure Beccuau said at a press conference, as per French outlet France 24’s English translation. The two suspects in question were arrested Saturday evening following the now-unforgettable, headline-breaking October 19 theft.
Who are the Louvre thieves? Potential charges revealed
Although their names haven’t been announced, officials disclosed that one of these men is a 34-year-old Algerian national. Having lived in France since 2010, he was ultimately taken into custody at Charles de Gaulle airport. Beccuau said that he had plans to fly to Algerian without any return ticket in hand. His prior brushes with law enforcement were mostly traffic-related incidents. The Algerian man was ultimately identified through DNA found one of the scooters used for the organised robbery.
On the other hand, the second suspect is a 39-year-old man, and was arrested at his home. As per CNN’s report, he is an illegal taxi driver and delivery driver, who was born in the Paris suburb Aubervilliers. He previously faced off with cops for aggravated theft. Much like his co-conspirator, he was also identified through DNA recovery. Prosecutors divulged that his DNA was found on one of the display cases’ broken glass and items possibly left behind.
In case they are convicted, they could face hefty fine and 15 years in prison. Preliminary charges against them include organised theft (15-year prison sentence) and criminal conspiracy (10 years). Meanwhile, the other two suspects involved are still at large.
Was the Louvre heist an inside job?
Refuting any such insinuations, Beccuau emphasised that they hadn’t come across anything that would suggest an insider had helped the criminal quartet in its mission. “There is nothing to suggest that the four perpetrators benefited from any form of inside help within the museum,” the French prosecutor said.
At the same time, officials haven’t missed on calling out the gaps in the most-visited museum’s security measures. Paris police chief Patrice Faure told politicians that the gloabl tourist spot’s security camera operations’ authorisation had already expired in July. Having seemingly gone unnoticed, it still hadn’t been renewed at the time of the robbery.
Further detailing the lapse, he made it a point to inform concerned officials that the first alert of the heist came to the police from a cyclist outside the museum instead of Louvre’s alarm system. The person in question had rung up the emergency line after having spotted helmet-wearing individuals with a basket lift.
The authorities haven’t necessarily ruled out the “possibility of a larger group” and a person commissioning the robbery.
On the flip side, Laure Beccuau even appealed to the thieved to return the stolen jewels, declaring that the goods were not in their own hands yet. Issuing a stark warning to those still with the stolen items, she told reporters that Louvre collectibles were “clearly unsellable,” especially since anyone buying would “be guilty of concealment of stolen goods.” Authorities are still holding out hope that precious gems would be recovered “for the Louvre and for the nation.”