Louvre Museum Heist Suspects Arrested

French police have arrested two suspects in connection with the daytime robbery at the Louvre Museum, Paris prosecutors confirmed on Monday. Authorities said one of the suspects was caught at Charles de Gaulle Airport while attempting to leave the country.

“This revelation can only hinder the investigative efforts of the hundred or so investigators mobilised—both in the search for the stolen jewellery and for all the perpetrators,” Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement quoted by Reuters. “It is too early to provide any specific details,” Beccuau added.

The heist, which took place on the 19th, stunned France and the international art world. Thieves used a crane to smash an upstairs window and enter the world’s most visited museum. Investigators later discovered that a key CCTV camera had been turned away from the scene, leaving a blind spot that the robbers exploited.

The theft occurred during the museum’s opening hours, and the suspects escaped on motorbikes. Among the stolen items is an emerald and diamond necklace once gifted by Napoleon Bonaparte to his second wife, Empress Marie Louise.