Rachida Dati

Oct. 30 (UPI) — Police in France arrested five new suspects over alleged involvement in theft of priceless French crown jewels from the Louvre in the French capital, Paris’ chief prosecutor said.

The office of Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the men were detained in and around Paris on Wednesday night but that the jewels, which some estimates have valued at more than $100 million, were not recovered.

The development came 10 days after four suspects were filmed on CCTV carrying out the heist in broad daylight using a lift-ladder mounted on the back of a stolen truck to break into the museum’s Apollon Gallery, before disappearing into the back streets on the back of getaway motorcycles.

Beccuau said that DNA from one of those arrested could be a match to traces DNA left behind at the scene and that the suspect was throught to be part of the gang that carried out the theft.

“He’s one we had in our sights,” she said, adding that the others “can give us information about how the theft was carried out.”

Police have four days to charge the five before they have to release them.

Two others suspected of using power tools to gain entry — both men in their 30s with police records — were arrested Saturday, one as he was boarding a flight to Algeria, but investigators now believe the gang extends beyond those detained thus far.

Among the riches taken were an emerald and diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave to his second wife, Marie Louise, a diadem set with nearly 2,000 diamonds and more than 200 pearls that belonged to Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie and six other priceless pieces dating back to the early 1800s.

However, Eugenie’s diamond and emerald-covered crown was left behind after the gang dropped it onto the road in their haste to escape.

The gang, posing as maintenance workers, ascended to a second-floor balcony adjacent to the River Seine, smashed a window and used disc cutters to break into glass display cases housing the jewels.

The Louvre was shut following the robbery, which French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said was an attack on France, and nine of its 28 galleries, including the Apollon, remained closed on Thursday, according to the Louvre website.

The Louvre has since moved some of its most valuable exhibits, including precious jewels, to the Bank of France, a short distance away, to be stored in its main underground vault, 85 feet below rue Croix des Petits Champs.

Oct. 19 (UPI) — A group of thieves broke into the Louvre Museum on Sunday morning and stole priceless jewels before fleeing on motorcycles, the famed institution confirmed to UPI.

A representative for the Louvre said that several people broke in through a window in the Apollo Gallery, which houses many of France’s royal jewels, around 9:30 a.m. local time after the museum had already opened its doors to the public.

Inside, the thieves stole jewelry from their display cases. French media later reported that they made off with seven jewels owned by Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife, Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais.

“An investigation has begun, and a detailed list of the stolen items is being compiled,” museum officials said in a statement. “Beyond their market value, these items have inestimable heritage and historical value.”

After the theft, the museum was evacuated “without incident” and no injuries were reported among the public, museum staff or law enforcement, the representative said.

The museum shared on social media that it would be closed Sunday for “exceptional reasons.”

“At the Louvre Museum this morning to commend the exemplary commitment of the staff mobilized following the theft,” Culture Minister Rachida Dati shared on social media after visiting the site.

“Respect for their responsiveness and professionalism. Together with President Emmanuel Macron, we extend our sincere thanks to them.”

Dati told French TV channel TF1 on Sunday that one of the jewels was later found and that the entire heist lasted only four minutes. She called the thieves “professionals.”

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said Sunday that “everything is being done” to find the thieves.

“The mobilization of investigators will be total, under the authority of the Parquet de Paris,” Nuñez said. The Parquet de Paris is the public prosecution office in the French capital. “Attacking the Louvre is attacking our history and our heritage.”

The news comes just days after the Louvre announced that two 18th-century snuff boxes that were stolen during a violent armed robbery in 2024 while they were on loan to the Cognacq-Jay Museum have been found and returned.