A 100-strong specialist police unit is investigating the daring theft of the French crown jewels from the Louvre, as officers face “a race against time” to recover the “priceless” items.
on sunday, four thieves stole nine items – one of which was dropped and recovered at the scene – in a robbery carried out while the world-famous Paris The museum was open to visitors.
The first arrests
On Saturday night, two men were arrestedone while preparing to leave the country from Charles de Gaulle airport.
French media reported that the men were originally from Seine-Saint-Denis, a suburb north of Paris, and that both were known to police.
French prosecutor Laure Beccuau reacted angrily to the premature leak of information, saying: “I deeply regret the hasty disclosure of this information by informed people, without regard for the investigation.
“This revelation can only harm the investigative efforts of the hundreds of investigators involved in the search for both the stolen jewelry and all the perpetrators.”
Investigators are believed to have been monitoring the men for days and quickly sprang into action when they realized one of the men was about to flee abroad. French media reported that he was about to board a flight to Algeria.
Beccuau did not say whether any jewelry had been recovered.
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Thieves escape Louvre in jewelry heist
What do we know about the police investigation?
After the robbery, a huge police operation was launched; one expert described the investigation as “one of the largest human persecutions in French history.”
Paris prosecutors entrusted the investigation to a specialized unit known as BRB (Brigade de répression du banditisme), an organized crime squad that often deals with high-profile thieves.
A former officer who served in the unit said he drove Kim Kardashian’s 2016 essayafter a gang broke into the reality TV star’s Paris apartment, tied her up and escaped with jewelery worth an estimated $6 million (£4.4 million).
Read more: What will happen to the stolen jewelry?
A forensic team inspects a window believed to have been used by the culprits. Photo: Reuters
Pascal Szkudlara said the BRB has about 100 officers, more than a dozen of whom specialize in museum thefts.
Investigators are examining video evidence, phone records and forensic evidence, while also speaking with informants.
Szkudlara said BRB “can have teams working on it 24/7 and for a long period,” adding that he is “100%” confident the thieves will be caught.
Art detective Arthur Brand, who helps police across Europe with investigations into missing works, has said officers will also review security footage from weeks ago, seeking to identify suspicious people investigating the gallery.
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‘A matter of time’ before gang attacks Louvre
What do we know about the culprits?
Only a small group of criminals would be capable of carrying out work as noisy as that on Sunday and it is possible that the police already know them, specialists say.
Art theft expert Anthony Amore told Sky News the culprits are “probably a European criminal gang”.
“The idea that they’re professional thieves like you see in Ocean’s 11, that’s not it,” he said. presenter Anna Botting.
“They’re the kind of people who do this in all kinds of places, so they’re professional in that sense. They had it planned very well.”
What did they take?
The thieves made off with a total of eight items, including a sapphire diadem (a jeweled diadem), a necklace and a single earring from a set linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Amélie and Hortensia.
They also took an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie Louise, second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, as well as a reliquary brooch.
The tiara (top), necklace (middle), and an earring were taken from the Queen Marie Amelie sapphire set. Photo: Louvre Museum
The tiara of Empress Eugenie. Photo: Louvre Museum
Also stolen were Empress Eugenie’s diamond diadem and her large bow-shaped brooch, an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship.
One piece, Eugenie’s imperial crown set with emeralds and more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found damaged outside the museum.
What have officers found so far?
In addition to recovering one of the stolen items, a crown that belonged to Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie, at the scene, French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said police found “motorcycles and a license plate.”
They have also recovered evidence of a crane used by the thieves to access the first floor Galerie d’Apollon, where the jewelery was displayed.
Mrs Dati said: “I also want to pay tribute to the security officers who prevented the basket lift from being set on fire.
“One of the criminals tried to set it on fire, but they forced him to flee.”
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Police face ‘race against time’
Art detective Mr Brand told Sky News the likelihood of the loot being found intact is decreasing every day.
“These crown jewels are so famous that they cannot be sold,” he said. “The only thing they can do is melt down the silver and gold, dismantle the diamonds and try to cut them up. That’s how they will probably disappear forever.”
He said officers will have to catch the thieves within a week to maintain any hope of recovering the jewels.
“If it takes longer, the loot will probably disappear and be dismantled,” he said. “It’s a race against time.”