The French Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed this Sunday (26) two arrests related to the jewelry theft at the Louvre Museum that occurred on October 19, but regretted its “hasty” disclosure as it was potentially harmful to the investigations.
“I deeply regret the hasty disclosure of this element by informed people, without any consideration for the investigation,” said prosecutor Laure Beccuau, in a statement.
“This revelation can only harm the investigative efforts of the hundreds of investigators mobilized, both in the search for the stolen jewels and for all the criminals. It is too early to give more details on this matter,” he added.
Beccuau stressed that he will communicate additional information at the end of the provisional detention phase of the two suspects.
Shortly afterwards, the French Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, also spoke, congratulating the investigators for having worked “tirelessly” as asked of them, in addition to reiterating that they have all his “trust”.
“The investigations must continue respecting the confidentiality of the investigation under the authority of the specialized inter-regional jurisdiction of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office. We will do this with the same determination! We continue forward!”, highlighted Nuñez, who until recently was prefect of the capital’s police, on his social network account X.
The arrests took place on Saturday, according to the magazine “Paris Match” and the newspaper “Le Parisien”, and the two men remain in police custody.
The first arrest, which took place at the airport, was made around 10pm (local time, 5pm Brasília time) when the suspect in question was trying to leave France, supposedly heading to Algeria.
The same night another arrest took place, of which fewer details were released.
The operation was carried out by the Paris Organized Crime Repression Brigade (BRB, its French acronym) and the Central Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Cultural Goods (OCBC).
The two were transferred to the BRB facilities at the headquarters of the Paris judicial police (in the XVII district of the capital) and their provisional detention could last for up to 96 hours.
Both men, around 30 years old, were on the police radar due to a history of robberies, according to the The Parisianand, supposedly, they were part of the four-person command that carried out the removal of the jewels from the Apolo Gallery of the most visited museum in the world.
As part of the Louvre investigation, they would be accused of crimes of organized gang robbery and illicit association for criminal purposes.
The jewelry stolen a week ago, of which there is no news, is economically valued at 88 million euros (around 551 million reais), although its patrimonial value is incalculable.
