French authorities have arrested two men in connection with the recent theft of priceless jewellery from the Louvre Museum in Paris, according to the Paris prosecutor.
The arrests took place on Saturday evening, with one suspect detained at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport as he attempted to leave the country. French media reported that the airport arrest occurred around 10 p.m., followed shortly by another arrest in the Paris region. One man was heading to Algeria, the other to Mali.
The heist, which occurred a week earlier, saw intruders steal eight valuable pieces of jewellery in a daring four-minute daylight robbery. The thieves used a movers’ truck ladder to access a first-floor gallery, fleeing on scooters after dropping a crown but escaping with treasures including an emerald-and-diamond necklace once gifted by Napoleon Bonaparte.
The $102 million theft has triggered an international outcry and renewed debate in France over the security of its cultural institutions.