French police on Tuesday, November 25 arrested four more individuals in connection with the spectacular theft of precious imperial jewels from the Louvre museum in October. These arrests follow the charging of four others earlier this month. The jewels, many of which belonged to former French royalty, remain unrecovered.

 

 

The latest arrests were confirmed by the Paris prosecutor, Laure Beccuau. The four new suspects consist of two men, aged 38 and 39, and two women, aged 31 and 40, all reportedly from the Paris region.

 

 

 

This brings the total number of individuals arrested in connection with the October 19 heist to eight. The four already charged over the theft include three men and one woman.

 

 

The brazen robbery occurred in broad daylight last month at the Louvre, the world’s most-visited art museum. The four-strong gang executed the theft in just seven minutes, making off with jewellery valued at an estimated $102 million before fleeing the scene on scooters.

During the heist, the thieves parked a moving truck with a ladder directly below the museum’s Apollo Gallery, where the French crown jewels are housed.

They ascended in a bucket, broke a window, and utilized angle grinders to cut into the glass display booths containing the treasures

 

The daylight nature of the crime has raised significant doubts about the credibility of the Louvre as a guardian for its myriad works.

 

 

So far, no trace has been found of the stolen jewels. The thieves successfully made off with eight items of jewellery, including an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise.

 

 

However, the thieves did drop one priceless item during their escape: a diamond- and emerald-studded crown that once belonged to Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III.