Louvre heist investigation: Paris prosecutor announces five new arrests as crown jewels remain missing

Five more people have been arrested in the investigation into the theft of crown jewels from the Louvre Museum, but the treasures remain missing, the Paris prosecutor announced Thursday, October 30.

The five were detained late Wednesday night in Paris and the Paris region, Prosecutor Laure Beccuau told RTL radio. She did not release their identities or other details.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau speaks next to Pascal Carreau, Head of the BRB (Brigade for the Repression of Banditry), Jean-Baptiste Felicite, Head of the OCBC, Central Office for Combating Trafficking in Cultural Goods, and Florent Boura, Deputy Public Prosecutor at the Paris Judicial Court, during a press conference about the investigation into the Louvre Museum robbery in Paris, Reuters.

One is suspected of being part of the four-person team that robbed the Louvre's Apollo Gallery in broad daylight on October 19, the prosecutor said.

Two other members of the team were arrested on Sunday and given preliminary charges on Wednesday of criminal conspiracy and theft committed by an organised gang. Both partially admitted their involvement, according to the prosecutor.

“Searches last night and overnight did not allow us to find the goods,” Beccuau said.

It took thieves less than eight minutes to steal the jewels valued at 88 million euros ($102 million), shocking the world. The robbers forced open a window, cut into cases with power tools and fled with eight pieces of the French crown jewels.