Four more suspects arrested over Louvre heist | Crime News

The heist at the world’s most visited art museum was not discovered even after a seven-minute operation by a gang of four, shocking the world.

French authorities have arrested four more people in connection with the broad daylight robbery of royal jewels worth $102 million from Paris’ Louvre museum last month.

Paris prosecutor Laure Becuau said Tuesday that two men, aged 38 and 39, and two women, aged 31 and 40, were arrested as part of an investigation into the robbery in which thieves made off with eight items, including an emerald and diamond necklace given by Napoleon I to his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise.

All four suspects are from the Paris region, Becuau said. Earlier, four other people were arrested and placed under formal investigation in connection with the raid on the world’s most visited art museum, which was carried out by the four men.

On October 19, two men parked a mover lift beneath the Apollo Gallery containing the French crown jewels. They rode a bucket up to the second floor, broke a window and opened display cases with an angle grinder. They fled on scooters driven by two accomplices.

Overall, the operation took less than seven minutes. While fleeing, the thieves dropped a jeweled crown that had belonged to Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III. The rest of the loot has not been found.

The four people already accused of theft include three men and one woman. This month, it emerged that one of the men, a 37-year-old, was in a couple with the woman and they have children. The couple were arrested after their DNA was found in the basket lift used during the robbery.

Becuau said at the time that the man had 11 previous convictions on his criminal record, most of which were for theft. The first two men arrested lived in the northeastern Paris suburb of Aubervilliers and were also known to police for burglaries.

The robbery made headlines around the world and put museum security in the spotlight in France, which has seen a series of break-ins at cultural institutions.

The Louvre’s director has promised to install more police and security cameras, admitting to lawmakers that failures led to the thefts.