Two arrested over Louvre Museum heist after chainsaw raiders made off with France’s £76million crown jewels

TWO suspects have been arrested over the unprecedented Louvre heist – one week after chainsaw-wielding thugs got away with £76million worth of jewels.

One of the detainees was nicked by cops while trying to board a flight to Algeria from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on Saturday night, Le Parisien reported.

The other person was arrested shortly after on the same evening – with the pair currently being questioned by authorities.

The arrested suspects, who are both believed to be in their 30s, are originally from Seine-Saint-Denis in the French capital, reports say.

The pair are allegedly part of the four-strong gang who broke into the iconic museum on October 19 before getting away with priceless treasures.

It comes after local cops said they found digital forensic evidence that a member from the museum’s security team was in touch with the thugs – sparking fears the robbery was an inside job.

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 into the gilded Galerie d’Apollon, where the jewels were kept in cases.

Over the course of just seven minutes, they grabbed nine glittering pieces from the Napoleon and Empress Joséphine collection – but dropped one as they rushed off.

It also comes after the landmark museum was forced to transfer its jewels to an extra secure vault after the brazen daylight raid highlighted major security flaws.

Under a secret police escort, they were transferred to the Bank of France just 500 metres away.

There are being held in the Bank’s “Souterraine” vault which is 27 metres below its head office and home to France’s gold reserves.

It’s thought of as impenetrable with a half-metre thick, seven tonne door and 17 tonne cement block.

Meanwhile, 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.

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.

French ministers are adamant that the museum’s security was functioning correctly.

But Louvre director, Laurence des Carshas spoken of an “ageing” infrastructure.

She even said last week that the sole camera monitoring the area where the robbers broke into the Louvre was pointing in the wrong direction.