4 more arrested in $102M Louvre jewel heist, Paris prosecutor says

PARIS (AP) — The Paris prosecutor announced four more arrests Tuesday in connection with the stunning heist at the Louvre Museum in October by a gang that made off with $102 million worth of jewels.

The two men and two women taken into custody are from the Paris region and range in age from 31 to 40, said the prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, whose office is heading the investigation.

Her statement didn’t say what role they’re suspected of having played in the Oct. 19 theft. Police can hold them for questioning for 96 hours.

French media report that one of those arrested, a 39-year-old already known to police services, is believed to be the fourth member of the team thought to have carried out the daring daylight robbery and is from Aubervilliers, a suburb north of Paris other suspects have connections with.

The other three alleged members of the so-called “commando” team have been previously arrested and face preliminary charges of theft by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy. Their DNA has been found on the scene or on items linked to the robbery.

A woman arrested in October is accused of complicity.

The loot hasn’t been recovered. It includes a diamond-and-emerald necklace Napoleon gave to Empress Marie-Louise, jewels tied to 19th-century Queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense, and Empress Eugénie’s pearl-and-diamond tiara.

The robbery has focused attention on security at the Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum.

The thieves took less than eight minutes to force their way into the museum and leave, using a freight lift to reach the building’s window. Footage from museum cameras showed two broke into the ornate Apollo Gallery, cutting into the jewelry display cases with disc cutters and making off with the trove, while two riders on scooters whisked them away.

The emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum.