Louvre Heist: Two Suspects Caught After €88 Million Jewel Theft

Wed Oct 29 2025 05:39:22 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

In a brazen daylight heist, two thieves were apprehended after stealing precious jewels from the Louvre Museum in Paris, raising concerns about security measures.

Two suspects involved in the theft of €88 million in jewels from the Louvre Museum have been arrested, with police crediting DNA evidence for identifying one of them. The robbery, executed in broad daylight, sparked questions about the museum's security protocols, which have been deemed insufficient. As the nation reels from the incident, the jewels, feared to be broken up, have been relocated to a more secure location.

Two suspects have been arrested over the theft of precious crown jewels from Paris's Louvre museum, French media say.

The Paris prosecutor's office said one of the men had been taken into custody as he was preparing to take a flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Items worth €88 million (£76 million; $102 million) were taken from the world's most-visited museum last Sunday, when four thieves wielding power tools broke into the building in broad daylight.

France's justice minister has conceded security protocols failed, leaving the country with a terrible image.

The Paris prosecutor's office confirmed that the arrests were made on Saturday evening, with one suspect reportedly heading to Algeria and the other to Mali.

DNA found at the scene linked one of the suspects to the crime, and they left behind various items including gloves and a high-visibility jacket.

The stolen items included a crown once owned by Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.

The thieves broke in shortly after the museum opened, forcing guards to evacuate before cutting through display cases with power tools.

A preliminary report indicated that many areas of the museum had inadequate CCTV coverage, which contributed to the successful escape of the thieves after just four minutes.

Security has since been tightened around France's cultural institutions, and some jewels have been relocated to the Bank of France's secure vault.