Prosecutors now believe the dramatic jewel robbery at the Louvre was carried out by small-scale criminals, including a couple with children rather than an elite organised crime group.
Last month, a four-member team stormed the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum, in broad daylight. In just seven minutes, they seized jewellery valued at roughly $102 million before speeding off on scooters.
Investigators say the thieves parked a truck with a ladder beneath the Apollo Gallery, where the French crown jewels are displayed. Two members climbed up, shattered a window, and used angle grinders to cut into the glass cases holding the valuables while two others waited outside.
Two men suspected of being the pair who entered the gallery have already been arrested, charged, and placed in custody. On Saturday, prosecutors confirmed that two additional suspects, a man and a woman have also been charged and remanded.
Authorities have not yet found any of the stolen jewels.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau revealed on Sunday that the group appears to be petty criminals from the northern suburbs of Paris, not professional, high-level thieves.
Their profiles do not match those “typically linked to organised crime circles,” Beccuau told France Info.Another individual is still being sought.
Beccuau confirmed that the man (37) and the woman (38) charged Saturday are a couple and parents. Both have denied involvement, and the man refused to speak to investigators.
All the suspects are believed to be “local people,” she said, most of them from Seine-Saint-Denis. Two of the male suspects were previously convicted together in a 2015 theft case.
The 37-year-old man faces charges of organised theft and criminal conspiracy, while his partner is charged with assisting in organised theft and conspiracy. She cried in court, expressing fear for her safety and her children.
They were arrested after DNA was discovered on the mechanical basket used during the break-in. The prosecutor said there is “significant” DNA evidence linking the man to the lift system. DNA traces of his partner were also detected, though they may have been transferred indirectly.
The man has 11 prior convictions, mostly theft-related.Earlier, two other suspects who live in Aubervilliers and are also known for theft, were detained. One of them had worked with the 37-year-old in the 2015 case.
Three people arrested alongside the couple have since been released without charges.During the escape, the thieves accidentally dropped a diamond and emerald crown once owned by Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III. However, they still made away with eight valuable pieces, including an emerald-and-diamond necklace gifted by Napoleon I to Empress Marie-Louise.
The search for the jewels continues, and investigators fear the pieces could be trafficked on the black market or used in money laundering.
“We are exploring every possibility,” Beccuau said.
