2 arrested suspects admit to ‘partial’ involvement as stolen jewels remain missing

The two male suspects who were arrested in connection with the Louvre jewelry heist that occurred earlier this month — and resulted in the theft of French crown jewels worth $102 million, which remain missing — have “partially” admitted their involvement, prosecutors said in Paris on Wednesday.

The duo, who were arrested on Sunday,  are suspected of having used power tools to enter the museum’s Galerie d’Apollon, where the jewels were stored.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said during a news conference that at least two other suspects are at large but that there could be more than four suspects.

In response to claims that the heist was an inside job, Beccuau said that there was “no evidence the thieves benefited from inside help.”

Beccuau’s response comes after detectives reportedly uncovered “digital forensic evidence” linking a member of the museum’s security with individuals involved in carrying out the raid, according to the Telegraph.

One of the suspects arrested on Sunday, according to ABC News, was taken into custody while trying to board a plane to Algeria at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport. The second suspect was apprehended as he attempted to travel to Mali, in West Africa, an investigator with the Paris Brigade for the Repression of Banditry, and a source from the French Interior Ministry confirmed to ABC. Beccuau clarified on Wednesday, however, that the second suspect did not intend to leave the country.

While their names have not been released to the public, the two suspects, both in their 30s, are French nationals who reside in Seine-Saint-Denis, a Paris suburb, according to investigators. One suspect is a dual citizen of France and Mali, while the other suspect is a dual citizen of France and Algeria. Both suspects were known to the police because of past burglary cases.

Under French law, suspects can remain in custody for only 96 hours before prosecutors must either charge them or release them.

Beccuau has since expressed “deep regret” over the “hasty disclosure” of the two arrests, fearing that the information “can only harm the investigative efforts.”

“It is too early to provide any further details,” Beccuau said. “I will provide additional information at the end of this custody phase.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, the stolen jewels remain unaccounted for. According to France’s minister of culture, eight items were stolen from cases in just seven minutes: a tiara, a necklace and a single earring in the sapphire set belonging to 19th-century French queens Marie-Amelie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and a pair of emerald earrings owned by Empress Marie Louise; a diamond “reliquary” brooch; and a diamond tiara and pearl brooch belonging to Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie.

A ninth item has, however, been located. A diamond and emerald crown belonging to Empress Eugénie has since been recovered near the scene.

The time to find the eight jewels before it’s too late is dwindling, as art detective Arthur Brand previously warned that the police have just one week to find the missing jewels before they are potentially dismantled, melted down and gone forever.

Following the heist, the BBC reported that the Louvre had transferred its most coveted jewels to the Bank of France for safekeeping.

“The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a Oct. 19 post on X following the heist. “We will recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice.”