TWO suspects arrested over the brazen Louvre heist have “partly confessed” to carrying out the raid – but are refusing to give up the stolen loot.
It comes after the daring October 19 robbery where hooded thugs made off with priceless treasures after breaking in to the iconic museum in Paris.
The two detainees, both men in their 30s, were arrested on Saturday – with one of them just about to jet off to Algeria before being cuffed at Charles de Gaulle airport.
The other was reportedly also planning to leave France and had plotted to flee to Mali.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said: “I want to remain hopeful that [the jewels] will be found and they can be brought back to the Louvre, and more broadly to the nation.”
The thieves stole eight precious pieces worth an estimated £76million – exposing major security flaws as they broke into the world’s most-visited museum.
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Beccuau also addressed mounting fears that the robbery was an inside job.
But she played down the speculation, saying there was “no evidence the thieves benefited from inside help”.
It comes as authorities have a short amount of time left to charge or release the pair of suspects before the 96-hour deadline expires.
Police admitted that there had been major gaps in the Louvre’s security operations.
They also revealed that the Louvre’s authorisation to operate its security cameras expired in July – and had not been renewed.
Authorities confirmed the first person to alert authorities to the historic robbery this month was not from the museum’s security – but from a cycling passerby.
It comes after police matched some of the 150 DNA samples left at the scene of the crime to find and arrest the two “hired gun” robbers last weekend.
Both men, had they left the country, would have been able to evade prosecution as neither nation has an extradition agreement with France.
Cops had the suspects under surveillance in the hope they would lead them to the other thieves and the nicked jewellery.
But after one of the men headed to the airport at around 10pm on Saturday, police stepped in and stopped the man before he could escape.
A police source said: “There was a co-ordinated operation by armed officers to arrest the man, who was well-known to the authorities.
Was Louvre heist an inside job?
By Sayan Bose
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, which saw a group of thugs steal historic crown jewels worth £76million, was an inside job.
Raiders 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.
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.”
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.
“This action was considered an emergency, despite hopes that the men would lead those watching them to the stolen jewels.”
More than 100 specialist officers – including crack detectives from France’s version of the FBI – have been working on the probe.
Parisian cops are still desperately trying to hunt down the eight pieces of invaluable jewels nicked in the broad daylight heist.
There are growing fears the jewels were stolen to be melted, remodelled and sold off around the globe to the ultra rich via the black market – where they will likely never be seen again.
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The robbers – described as a “highly organised commando unit” – were last seen disappearing on two Yamaha mopeds through the French capital.
Astonishing footage showed the brazen burglars escaping down the cherry picker with their stolen loot.