Suspects in Louvre jewel heist case arrested in Paris

Two suspects have been arrested in Paris and are being questioned in connection with the brazen robbery of some of France’s Louvre jewels, Le Parisien newspaper reported, citing sources close to the investigation.

The newspaper reported that one of the two suspects was about to leave the country and was detained at Charles de Gaulle airport around 22:00 on Saturday.

The other was arrested later in the evening in the northern Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis.

Paris police were not immediately available for comment.

Thieves stole eight valuable pieces worth an estimated US$102 million ($157 million) from the Louvre collection on October 19, exposing security vulnerabilities as they entered the world’s most visited museum by breaking an upstairs window using a crane during operating hours.

They escaped on motorcycles

News of the robbery reverberated around the world and led to soul-searching in France, which some saw as a national humiliation.

According to Le Parisien, the two men are in their 30s and are originally from the Seine-Saint-Denis region.

The newspaper said that the suspects were known to the French police and one of the suspects was about to go to Algeria.