Police arrest four more suspects in Louvre heist

French authorities on Tuesday arrested another four suspects in connection with last month’s jewel heist from the Louvre museum, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

“They are two men aged 38 and 39, and two women aged 31 and 40, all from the Paris region,” Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said.

Jewels remain unaccounted for

The stolen jewels, estimated to be worth around €88 million ($102 million), have not been recovered since the brazen theft at the world-famous museum on October 19.

A statement from the prosecutor’s office added that four people who had already been arrested were placed under investigation in late October and early November in relation to the heist.

The prime suspect has already been linked to the theft by DNA evidence, found on one of the glass cases where the jewels were displayed, as reported on October 30.

Le Parisien newspaper, meanwhile, has reported that one of those arrested on Tuesday was the fourth member of the gang that staged the heist.

How the Louvre heist unfolded

The brazen theft, on October 19, took place when the masked perpetrators parked a truck equipped with a lifting platform next to the museum. 

Two of thieves waited on scooters in the street outside as the other two used the lifting platform to reach a first-floor balcony and enter the museum.

The gang fled on the scooters with eight precious pieces of jewellery belonging to former queens and empresses — including tiaras, necklaces, earrings and brooches encrusted with gemstones.

A diamond and emerald-studded crown that once belonged to Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III, was dropped as the thieves made their escape.