 "Two arrested in daring $102 mn Louvre jewel heist admit role, stolen treasures still missing")
Two men arrested in connection with the theft of France’s crown jewels from the Louvre Museum have confessed to their involvement in the high-profile heist and have been remanded in custody, according to a CNN report, citing the Paris prosecutor’s office on Wednesday.
Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau told reporters that the stolen jewels have not yet been recovered.
The suspects are expected to appear before an investigative judge and could be placed under formal investigation later on Wednesday.
The theft — a daring, seven-minute daylight raid on the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery — drew global attention after thieves made off with jewels worth tens of millions of euros.
The two men were arrested on Saturday evening and questioned for 96 hours before being placed in detention. Authorities said two additional suspects remain at large.
According to Beccuau, the first suspect, a 34-year-old Algerian national with prior traffic-related offenses, was identified through DNA traces found on one of the scooters used in the getaway.
The second suspect, a 39-year-old illegal taxi and delivery driver from Aubervilliers, a suburb of Paris, was previously known to police for aggravated theft. His DNA was recovered from shattered glass taken from one of the display cases.
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More Shorts“There is nothing to suggest that the four perpetrators benefited from any form of inside help within the museum,” CNN quoted Beccuau as saying.
“They are currently before an investigating judge with a view to placing them under formal investigation for the crimes of robberies as part of an organised gang – crimes carrying a fifteen year prison sentence and a heavy fine,” she added.
More than 100 investigators were deployed in the manhunt for the thieves, authorities said.
The suspects were traced after forensic teams analysed over 150 DNA samples and examined items left at the scene, including gloves, a helmet, and high-visibility jackets.
One of the men was arrested at Charles de Gaulle Airport while attempting to board a flight to Algeria, intercepted during a routine passport check.
The jewels — including an emerald necklace with over 1,000 diamonds gifted by Napoleon to his second wife — remain missing.
On October 19, thieves used a truck-mounted ladder to enter the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery through a window, smashing two display cases and stealing nine pieces worth an estimated €88 million ($102 million).
“I’d like to keep the hope that they will be found and could be returned to the Louvre museum and the nation,” Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said. “These jewels are now unsellable… There is still time to return them.”
With inputs from agencies
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