Authorities in Paris announced on Sunday that two individuals have been apprehended in connection with the robbery of crown jewels from the renowned Louvre museum.
The arrests were carried out by investigators on Saturday evening, with one of the suspects intercepted while attempting to flee the country.
Reportedly, one suspect, who was on the verge of leaving France, was detained at Charles de Gaulle Airport around 10 p.m. on Saturday, while the second suspect was captured later in the evening in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb situated to the north of Paris.
At the time of reporting, the Paris police had not provided any immediate comments on the situation.
The audacious heist occurred on October 19, where thieves managed to steal eight valuable pieces of jewelry valued at approximately $143 million Cdn from the Louvre’s collection before escaping on motorcycles.
The break-in exposed critical security vulnerabilities at the world-renowned museum as the culprits used a crane to break through an upstairs window during regular operating hours. Subsequently, they fled the scene on motorcycles.
The incident made headlines globally, sparking introspection in France regarding what many considered a significant national embarrassment.
According to reports from Le Parisien, the two suspects are both in their thirties and originally from the Seine-Saint-Denis region.
Notably, the individuals were already known to French law enforcement, and it was disclosed that one of the suspects was on the verge of departing for Algeria.
A gang of thieves entered the Louvre museum through a window, took some of the French crown jewels and fled on motorbikes into Paris.