Two convicted burglars charged with robbing the Louvre after brazen museum raid as ‘France’s crown jewels’ still missing
Authorities addressed claims the heist was an inside job
TWO suspects have been charged with stealing £76million worth of jewels from the Louvre – after they “partially confessed” to their crimes.
It comes after the daring October 19 robbery where four hooded thugs made off with priceless treasures after breaking in to the iconic Paris museum.
The thieves made off with priceless jewelsCredit: AFP
Two suspects arrested over the Louvre heist have ‘partly confessed’Credit: Reuters
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the detainees faced up to 15 years in prison after being charged with “organised robbery in a gang”.
The two men were arrested on Saturday night – with one of them cuffed at Charles de Gaulle airport carrying a “one-way ticket to Algeria”.
The other was reportedly also planning to leave France and had plotted to flee to Mali.
Neither of them were identified, but authorities said they would both be held on remand until trial after “partially admitting their involvement in the crimes to detectives”.
But France’s “crown jewels” are still missing, along with two other alleged accomplices.
Beccuau said: “I want to remain hopeful that [the jewels] will be found and they can be brought back to the Louvre, and more broadly to the nation.”
The thieves stole eight precious pieces worth an estimated £76million – exposing major security flaws as they broke into the world’s most-visited museum in broad daylight.
One of the charged suspects is a 34-year-old Algerian national who has been living in France since 2010.
He is known for burglary and drug offences, and was identified by his DNA being found “on one of the two scooters” used to escape from the Louvre.
His lawyer said there was a “vast disconnect between the extraordinary nature of this case and the entirely ordinary personality of our client”.
The second man is a 39-year-old French national from the northern Paris suburb of Aubervilliers, and with links to the west African state of Mali.
He too has convictions for aggravated theft, and was under judicial supervision in another case due to be heard in November.
His DNA was reportedly found “on one of the broken windows and on objects abandoned during the getaway,” Beccuau said.
These included a crown that used to belong to the Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III.
Beccuau suggested the pair are “the ones who broke into the Apollo Gallery” using a furniture lift on the back of a flatbed lorry which was used to get up to a first floor balcony.
This means they are likely to be the two men wearing a crash helmet and balaclava who were filmed on a mobile phone coming down from the Louvre gallery, using the same lift.
Police are still hunting the stolen lootCredit: Reuters
Beccuau earlier on Wednesday addressed mounting fears that the robbery was an inside job.
But she played down the speculation, saying there was “no evidence the thieves benefited from inside help”.
Police admitted that there had been major gaps in the Louvre’s security operations.
They also revealed that the Louvre’s authorisation to operate its security cameras expired in July – and had not been renewed.
Authorities confirmed the first person to alert authorities to the historic robbery this month was not from the museum’s security – but from a cycling passerby.
It comes after police matched some of the 150 DNA samples left at the scene of the crime to find and arrest the two “hired gun” robbers last weekend.
Both men, had they left the country, would have been able to evade prosecution as neither nation has an extradition agreement with France.
Cops had the suspects under surveillance in the hope they would lead them to the other thieves and the nicked jewellery.
Was Louvre heist an inside job?
By Sayan Bose
IT may have taken more than pure genius and a stroke of sheer luck to carry out a heist that is now at the centre of the world’s attention
Investigators believe the brazen Louvre heist, which saw a group of thugs steal historic crown jewels worth £76million, was an inside job.
Raiders with chainsaws scaled the side of the world’s most visited gallery before opening a window to enter and steal the precious jewels – all in just seven minutes.
Paris police have now said they found digital forensic evidence that a member from the museum’s security team was in touch with the thugs.
A source told The Telegraph: “We have found digital forensic evidence that shows there was cooperation with one of the museum’s security guards and the thieves.
“Sensitive information was passed on about the museum’s security, which is how they were aware of the breach.”
The thieves wheeled a furniture lift to the museum and rode the basket up the facade to break the gilded Galerie d’Apollon, where the jewels were kept in cases.
But after one of the men headed to the airport at around 10pm on Saturday, police stepped in and stopped the man before he could escape.
A police source said: “There was a co-ordinated operation by armed officers to arrest the man, who was well-known to the authorities.
“This action was considered an emergency, despite hopes that the men would lead those watching them to the stolen jewels.”
More than 100 specialist officers – including crack detectives from France’s version of the FBI – have been working on the probe.
Parisian cops are still desperately trying to hunt down the eight pieces of invaluable jewels nicked in the broad daylight heist.
There are growing fears the jewels were stolen to be melted, remodelled and sold off around the globe to the ultra rich via the black market – where they will likely never be seen again.
The robbers – described as a “highly organised commando unit” – were last seen disappearing on two Yamaha mopeds through the French capital.
Astonishing footage showed the brazen burglars escaping down the cherry picker with their stolen loot.
Security flaws were exposed following the raidCredit: Reuters
A crown worn by French Empress Eugenie, which was targeted by thieves during the heistCredit: Reuters
