New suspects in Louvre robbery detained, but jewelry still missing – details

On the evening of October 29, five people were detained in connection with the robbery of the Louvre Museum in Paris, in the French capital region, reported radio RTL, citing interlocutors in the judicial system. The next day, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirmed that there were several detainees and said that the stolen jewelry was still being searched for.

The official noted that it was too early to disclose the identity of the suspects.

"One of them was on the investigators' radar because we had traces of his DNA, which we believe links him to the theft," she said.

Becca also said that two suspects, detained first on October 26, for their part, "partially admitted the facts".

"They eventually confessed that they were involved in the robbery," the prosecutor said.

She clarified that the investigation is "ongoing to identify all those involved."

However, Beccuau noted that the jewelry stolen from the Louvre was not recovered during this wave of arrests.

It is a considerable amount of jewelry: eight crown jewels, including empress Eugenie's tiara set with almost 2000 diamonds, as well as a sapphire necklace that belonged to Marie-Amelia, the last queen of France, and Hortense de Beauharnais, the mother of Napoleon III.

According to media estimates, the cost of these products is 88 million euros.

At the same time, the prosecutor assured that investigators had decided to find the stolen jewelry, and she had contacted the Central Department for Combating Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property.

"This department is now studying the entire legal art market and [...] on the other hand, there are a number of parallel markets that the specialists of this department are able to investigate, and we are also vigilant here," Beccuau said.

• On Sunday, October 19, the crown jewelry was stolen from the Louvre – Le Parisien newspaper showed photos of these jewels.
• The French Ministry of Culture has announced that the country will not receive payments for the jewelry stolen from the Louvre, as they were not insured by a private policy.
• The Paris prosecutor stated that as part of the investigation, the investigation managed to obtain eyewitness testimony.
• RTL's interlocutors reported that after the theft, part of the jewelry collection was transported to the Bank of France's underground vault.