Two suspects in Louvre jewelry heist have partially admitted involvement, Paris prosecutor says
Two suspects in the Louvre jewelry heist have partially admitted their involvement, the Paris prosecutor said on Wednesday, without giving any details of their comments.
The two men are suspected of breaking into the world’s most visited museum and making off with eight piece of the French crown jewels valued at $102 million.
It took thieves less than eight minutes to steal the jewels, shocking the world. They forced open a window, cut into cases with power tools and fled with the loot.
“These two men are suspected of being the ones who broke into the Apollo Gallery to seize the jewelry. The first, a 34-year-old Algerian national, has been living in France since 2010, specifically in Aubervilliers,” Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said at a press conference on Wednesday. “He was unemployed at the time of his arrest but had previously worked as a rapper and a delivery driver. He was already known to the police and justice services for offenses mainly related to traffic violations. He was also convicted for theft. He was identified thanks to DNA traces found on one of the scooters used by the criminals.”
That suspect was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport on Saturday as he was about to leave the country on a one-way ticket to Algeria.
The other suspect, a 39-year-old man, was arrested Saturday night at his home in the northern Paris suburb of Aubervilliers. “There is no evidence to suggest that he was about to leave the country,” Beccuau said.
He was known to police for several thefts, and his DNA was found on one of the glass cases where the jewels were displayed and on items the thieves left behind, Beccuau said.
Both men face preliminary charges of theft committed by an organised gang and criminal conspiracy, and are expected to be held in provisional detention.
Beccuau said there was nothing to suggest at this phase of the investigation that it was an inside job as some have surmised.
Prosecutors had faced a deadline of Wednesday evening to charge the suspects, release them or seek a judge’s extension.
None of the jewels have yet been recovered.
By Africanews
