Suspects arrested over the theft of crown jewels from Paris’ Louvre museum

PARIS (AP) — The Paris prosecutor said on Sunday that a number of suspects have been arrested over the theft of crown jewels from Paris’ Louvre museum last weekend.

The prosecutor said that investigators made the arrests on Saturday evening, adding that one of the men taken into custody was preparing to leave the country from Roissy Airport.

French media BFM TV and Le Parisien newspaper earlier reported that two suspects had been arrested and taken into custody. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau did not confirm the number of arrests.

Thieves took less than eight minutes to steal jewels valued at 88 million euros ($102 million) in a weekend heist at the world’s most visited museum — a crime that has shocked the world.

French officials described how the intruders used a basket lift to scale the Louvre’s façade, forced open a window, smashed display cases and fled last Sunday morning. The museum’s director called the incident a “terrible failure.”

Beccuau said investigators from the anti-gang brigade made the arrests. She rued in her statement the premature leak of information, saying it could hinder the work of over 100 investigators “mobilized to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators.”