The two burglar suspects arrested over the Louvre jewellery heist were known to the police before the theft that shocked France, a prosecutor has said.
On Saturday, the pair – both with criminal records – were arrested on suspicion of stealing £76 million worth of jewels from the museum.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau told a news conference that the pair face preliminary charges of theft committed by an organised gang and criminal conspiracy.
They are expected to be held in provisional detention.
One of the suspects, a 39-year-old French-Algerian man was arrested on Saturday night at his home in Aubervilliers.
Ms Beccuau said: ‘There is no evidence to suggest that he was about to leave the country.’
His DNA was found on one of the glass cases where the jewels were displayed and on one of the items left behind in the chaos of the heist.
He is known to the police for several thefts.
The other suspect, a 34-year-old Algerian national had been living in France since 2010 and was known to police mostly for road traffic offences.
He was arrested on Saturday night at Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to fly to Algeria with no return ticket.
Ever since the heist, rumours of an inside job spread but Ms Beccuau has said there was ‘no evidence the thieves benefited from inside help.’
Along with the partial confession revelation, Paris prosecutor Ms Beccuau has said the stolen jewels have still not been recovered.
Ms Beccuau said: ‘I want to remain hopeful that [the jewels] will be found and they can be brought back to the Louvre, and more broadly to the nation.
‘These jewels are now, of course, unsellable.
‘Anyone who buys them would be guilty of concealment of stolen goods. It’s still time to give them back.’
The four hooded thieves who brazenly broke into the museum in broad daylight escaped with eight precious treasures worth an estimated $102 million on October 19.
France will not receive a payout for the stolen, unretrieved jewels which were once in display at the Apollo Gallery because they were not covered by private insurance.
Serious security lapses and failures including ageing CCTV were highlighted as the robbers used a crane to smash into an upstairs window during opening hours.
These shortcomings forced the museum to transfer some of its most precious jewels to the Bank of France, according to French radio RTL.
Paris police chief Patrice Faure told Senate legislators that ageing systems and slow-moving fixes left weak seams in the museum – hindering their ability to stop the heist before it was too late.
‘A technological step has not been taken,’ he told legislators, noting parts of the video network are still analogue, producing lower-quality images that are slow to share in real time.
A long-promised and much needed revamp – a 93 million dollar (£70 million) project requiring roughly 60 kilometres (37 miles) of new cabling is not expected to be finished before 2029-2030.
Mr Faure also disclosed that the Louvre’s authorisation to operate its security cameras quietly expired in July and was not renewed – a paperwork lapse that some see as a symbol of broader negligence.
(Picture: REUTERS/Abdul Saboor)
After threatening guards with angle grinders, the thieves escaped after a speedy six or seven minutes via motorcycle.
Ms Beccuau also said in the news conference the vehicle used that allowed the robbers to break in was stolen on October 10.
A rental service employee was preparing to hand over a Mitsubishi Canter Fuso truck fitted with a 90-foot ladder to a driver when two men arrived on a motorbike and confronted them.
The suspects reportedly threatened the driver before one of them fled the scene in the truck.
The thieves apparently did not intend for the lift truck to be left intact, as suggested by the petrol container left behind. It was the security guards who deterred them from doing so.
Experts fear the stolen pieces may already be broken down and long gone – a prospect that adds more public criticism.
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