Paris prosecutor confirms detention of new suspects in Louvre robbery case
30 October 12:35
Paris prosecutor Laure Becquot has announced the detention of five more people suspected of involvement in the Louvre robbery that took place on October 19.
She said this on RTL, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to her, the suspects were detained on October 29 in various locations, including within Paris and in Aubervilliers, Seine-Saint-Denis. One of the detainees was of direct interest to the investigation in the museum robbery.
“His involvement in the robbery, in our assessment, is confirmed by DNA analysis,” said Bequio.
The prosecutor expects that the other four detainees may testify during interrogations about the details of the preparation and commission of the crime.
The Louvre robbery
On the morning of October 19, a robbery took place in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Nine jewels from the Napoleon collection were stolen.
According to the French newspaper Le Parisien, the thieves entered the building from the facade facing the Seine River, where construction work is currently underway. They used a freight elevator to gain direct access to the targeted room in the Apollo Gallery.
Two robbers, while a third stood guard, smashed the display cases in the Napoleon and French Sovereigns galleries, stealing nine items from the imperial family’s jewelry collection. Among them are a tiara worn by Queens Marie-Amelie and Hortense; an emerald necklace of Empress Marie-Louise; a tiara once owned by Empress Eugenie, etc. The latter, according to the investigation, is decorated with almost two thousand diamonds.
Investigators managed to find one of the stolen items, the crown of Empress Eugenia, as the thieves dropped it during their escape. The whereabouts of the rest of the items are unknown. The amount of damage is currently estimated at 88 million euros.
