PARIS: Police have arrested five more suspects linked to the theft of treasures worth $102 million from the Louvre Museum's Apollo gallery, the Paris prosecutor said on Thursday, expressing hope the latest developments will help them find the jewels.
Four hooded thieves made off with their booty during opening hours on the morning of October 19, exposing security lapses at the world's most-visited museum in a brazen daylight heist that sent shockwaves around the world and prompted soul-searching in France over what some viewed as a national humiliation.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau told radio station RTL on Thursday the latest suspects had been arrested in coordinated raids in Paris and its northern suburbs on Wednesday evening. One of them was identified through DNA traces left at the crime scene but it was not clear if all were suspected of direct involvement.
The investigation was gaining momentum after phones and other objects found on the suspects allowed investigators to study encrypted communications they made, she added.
Beccuau said a police unit specialised in the trafficking of cultural objects was scouring the black market to locate the stolen artefacts. She said the jewels could be used as a means to launder money or as a bargaining chip in organised crime circles.
Finding the jewels will be harder than finding the thieves, art crime experts have cautioned.
The plunder included royal necklaces, tiaras and earrings — artefacts that may now be difficult to sell on. Alternatively, their jewels, including thousands of diamonds, rubies and emeralds, could be broken up and the stones recut, and the gold melted down, in a bid to disguise their provenance.
Beccuau sought to encourage those in possession of the treasures to surrender them.
"I want to make it very clear to those who are in possession of them today that the courts would obviously take into account the fact that no loss was caused by this burglary," she said. — Reuters
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