Paris prosecutors have detained two suspects, including a man stopped at Charles de Gaulle Airport, in the investigation into the Louvre crown jewels theft. The arrests came a week after the €88m heist, as the government ordered immediate checks on security across cultural institutions.
According to prosecutors and contemporaneous accounts, four intruders used a vehicle‑mounted lift to reach a balcony by the Galerie d’Apollon shortly after opening time, cut through a window, threatened guards and sliced two display cases, then left at 09:38 on two scooters. Investigators estimate the operation lasted under eight minutes, with roughly four minutes inside the museum.
Eight items remain missing and have been added to Interpol’s Stolen Works of Art database, with images circulated to police forces. A crown linked to Empress Eugénie was recovered near the scene after being dropped during the getaway, but the rest of the jewels are unaccounted for.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin told France Inter that “we failed,” saying the robbery gave France a “deplorable” image. Culture Minister Rachida Dati told lawmakers the Louvre’s security apparatus functioned and announced an administrative inquiry alongside the police probe; the interior ministry said the alarm triggered and officers arrived within minutes.
Early diagnostics point to structural weaknesses. French media reported that around one in three rooms in the affected Denon wing lacked CCTV coverage at the time. Louvre director Laurence des Cars told senators perimeter surveillance was ageing and the only camera on the relevant exterior wall was pointed away from the balcony used by the thieves.
Two men from the Paris region were detained on Saturday evening, one intercepted at Charles de Gaulle while preparing to fly to Algeria and another allegedly planning to travel to Mali; forensic traces on items left at the scene are understood to have aided identification. Under organised crime procedures, specialist officers may hold suspects for up to 96 hours of questioning.
Officials acknowledge surveillance inside the Apollo Gallery had been limited, with only about a quarter of the space reportedly under active video monitoring prior to the robbery. The Louvre’s longer‑term modernisation plan includes security upgrades through 2031, but senators pressed for accelerated delivery during this week’s hearing.
Following an emergency ministerial meeting, the government ordered a security review at the Louvre and checks at other museums nationwide. Dati said she would seek temporary shortcuts to public procurement rules to speed equipment upgrades, signalling imminent changes to purchasing and installation timetables for CCTV and alarms.
As a precaution, the Louvre has moved part of its jewellery collection to the Bank of France’s most secure underground vault, located about 26 metres below its headquarters in central Paris. The transfer, carried out under police escort on Friday, was reported by French media and confirmed by the BBC.
Recovery prospects remain uncertain. Independent experts warn the jewels could be dismantled or metals melted, complicating identification if fragments surface on the market, while the Paris prosecutor has urged that the historic pieces not be disassembled given their cultural value.
International coordination has intensified. Interpol has listed the stolen objects and circulated notices to border and customs agencies, while the Paris prosecutor cautioned that premature disclosures risk undermining live efforts to locate the jewels and remaining suspects.