FIVE new suspects have been arrested in connection with the brazen Louvre heist in Paris, the city’s public prosecutor said.
French media earlier reported that one person arrested was suspected of being present on the crime scene when the robbery took place.
It comes after another two suspects were charged with stealing £76million worth of jewels from the museum – after they ‘partially admitted’ their involvement in the heist.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the detainees faced up to 15 years in prison after being charged with “organised robbery in a gang”.
The two men were arrested on Saturday night – with one of them cuffed at Charles de Gaulle airport carrying a “one-way ticket to Algeria”.
The other was reportedly also planning to leave France and had plotted to flee to Mali.
Neither of them was identified, but authorities said they would both be held on remand until trial after “partially admitting their involvement in the crimes to detectives”.
On October 19, thugs with chainsaws scaled the side of the world’s most visited gallery before opening a window to enter and steal the precious jewels – all in just seven minutes.
The thieves wheeled a furniture lift to the museum and rode the basket up the facade to break the gilded Galerie d’Apollon, where the jewels were kept in cases.
Over the course of just seven minutes, the thieves grabbed nine glittering pieces from the Napoleon and Empress Joséphine collection – but dropped one as they tore off.
They then spirited away on motorbikes through central Paris.
The thugs managed to get away with priceless pieces, including a tiara, necklaces and brooches that once belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte’s family.
But it may have taken more than pure genius and a stroke of sheer luck to carry out a heist that is now at the centre of the world’s attention.
Investigators believe the brazen Louvre heist was an inside job.
Paris police have now said they found digital forensic evidence that a member from the museum’s security team was in touch with the thugs.
A source told The Telegraph: “We have found digital forensic evidence that shows there was cooperation with one of the museum’s security guards and the thieves.
“Sensitive information was passed on about the museum’s security, which is how they were aware of the breach.”
Parisian cops are now desperately trying to hunt down the eight pieces of invaluable jewels nicked in the broad daylight heist.
It comes amid serious fears that the jewels had been stolen so they could be sold off around the globe to the rich and wealthy via the black market, where they will likely never be seen again.
Robbers often prefer items that can be broken up, melted or made smaller, which can also be converted into cash – such as the jewels.
This is because things like crowns and diamonds can easily be broken apart and sold into several bits.
It is possible that they have already been cut up, melted down or even sold in full.
Laurence des Cars, the director of the museum, admitted there was a security failure and the museum “failed” to protect the irreplaceable jewels from “brutal” criminals.
“Despite our efforts, despite our hard work on a daily basis, we failed,” she said.
FOOTBALLER GONE
Football League star tragically dies aged just 42 after cancer battle
CHA-CHA-CHAOS
Strictly’s Amber Davies breaks silence after pro Nikita pictured kissing her
Des Cars revealed that security cameras did not adequately cover the thieves’ point of entry.
She said the security perimeter cameras are ageing and do not cover all the external walls of the Louvre.
Stealing the attention
By Sayan Bose, Foreign News Reporter
A GERMAN company raised eyebrows after launching a tongue-in-cheek ad campaign for their cherry picker which was used in the Louvre heist.
Furniture lift manufacturer Böcker posted a picture of the truck and wrote a shocking slogan in German that translates to “When things need to go quickly”.
Photos of a freight lift went viral as authorities began investigating the lightning-fast daylight heist.
Alexander Böcker, the managing director and third-generation owner of Böcker Maschinenwerke GmbH, said he and his wife were shocked to see that their company’s product had been misused for the brazen robbery.
But they seized the moment to launch an unexpected endorsement campaign for their truck.
The company joked that the machine pictured leading up to the Louvre’s first-floor balcony was capable of lifting “up to 400kg of treasures at 42m per minute – as quiet as a whisper”.
Mr Böcker said: “We had hoped for a bit of attention and some good humour, but the feedback was overwhelming,
“I can understand that not everyone shares this sense of humour, but the vast majority laughed heartily.”
Though he added that the freight lift is not permitted to transport humans.
“Crown jewels, yes. Thieves, no,” the owner of the German company said.