Two more charged over Louvre jewellery heist

According to French media reports, two more people have been charged with the theft that took place at the Louvre Museum in Paris last month.

A 38-year-old woman, whose name has not been released, is charged with organized theft and complicity to commit a crime. Another person was also charged on Saturday. Details have not yet been made public.

The two were detained along with three others earlier this week. The two men arrested earlier were charged with burglary and criminal conspiracy after authorities said they were “partially acquainted” with their involvement in the robbery.

Jewelery worth €88 million (£76 million; $102 million) was taken from the world’s most visited museum on 19 October.

Four men pulled off the lightning-fast daylight theft.

The two alleged thieves, who were previously arrested, later admitted their involvement. While another person arrested this week is thought to have participated in the robbery, the fourth has not been caught yet.

The accused woman was in tears as she appeared before a judge on Saturday and confirmed she lived in La Courneuve, a northern suburb of Paris, a journalist working for the AFP news agency reported.

The magistrate later ruled that he should remain in custody.

Another person was also charged; It was not yet known what the charges were.

The pair were among five people arrested in and around the French capital earlier this week. Three of those detained were released pending trial.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said last week that on the day of the robbery, the robbers arrived at 09:30 (07:30 GMT) just after the museum opened to visitors.

The suspects arrived in a stolen vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to gain access to the Galerie d’Apollon from a balcony near the River Seine. The men used disc cutters to open display cases containing jewellery.

Prosecutors said that the thieves stayed inside for 4 minutes and at 09.38 they escaped by getting into the cars with two scooters waiting outside.

During the escape, one of the stolen items, the crown, was dropped. The other seven jewels were not found.

The director of the Louvre later revealed that the only camera monitoring the Galerie d’Apollon was facing away from the balcony where the thieves had climbed to gain entry.

Security measures around cultural institutions in France have been tightened since the incident.

Following the robbery, the Louvre transferred some of its most valuable jewels to the Bank of France.