A 100-strong specialist police unit is investigating the daring theft of French crown jewels from the Louvre – as officers face “a race against time” to recover the “priceless” objects.
On Sunday, four thieves stole nine items – one of which was dropped and recovered at the scene – in a heist pulled off while the world-famous Paris museum was open to visitors.
The first arrests
On Saturday night, two men were arrested, one as he was preparing to leave the country from Charles de Gaulle Airport.
French media reported the men were originally from Seine-Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, and were both known to the police.
French public prosecutor Laure Beccuau reacted furiously to the premature leak of information, saying: “I deeply deplore the hasty disclosure of this information by informed individuals, without consideration for the investigation.
“This revelation can only harm the investigative efforts of the hundred or so investigators involved in the search for both the stolen jewellery and all the perpetrators.”
Investigators are understood to have been monitoring the men for days, moving swiftly into action when they realised that one of the men was about to flee abroad. French media reported he was set to board a flight to Algeria.
Ms Beccuau did not say whether any jewels had been recovered.
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What do we know about the police investigation?
After the robbery, a huge police operation rolled into action – with one expert describing the probe as “one of the biggest manhunts in French history”.
Paris prosecutors entrusted the investigation to a specialised unit known as the BRB (Brigade de répression du banditisme), an anti-organised crime squad which often deals with high-profile robberies.
A former officer who served in the unit has said it handled the 2016 Kim Kardashian probe, after a gang stormed the reality TV star’s Paris apartment, tied her up and escaped with jewellery worth an estimated $6m (£4.4m).
Read more: What will happen to the stolen jewellery?
Pascal Szkudlara said the BRB has around 100 agents, with over a dozen who specialise in museum thefts.
Investigators are examining video evidence, telephone records and forensic evidence, while also speaking to informants.
Mr Szkudlara said the BRB “can have teams working on it 24/7 and for a long period”, adding he has “100%” confidence the thieves will be caught.
Art detective Arthur Brand – who helps police across Europe with investigations into missing works – has said officers will also be reviewing security footage going back weeks, looking to identify suspicious people casing out the gallery.
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What do we know about the culprits?
Only a small pool of criminals would be capable of a job as audacious as Sunday’s heist and they may already be known to police, specialists say.
Art theft expert Anthony Amore told Sky News the culprits are “probably a European criminal gang”.
“The idea it’s professional thieves like you see in Ocean’s 11, it’s not that,” he told presenter Anna Botting.
“It’s the sort of people who do this in all sorts of venues, so they are professional in that sense. They had this very well planned out.”
What did they take?
The thieves made away with a total of eight objects, including a sapphire diadem (a jewelled headband), necklace and single earring from a set linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Amelie and Hortense.
They also took an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, as well as a reliquary brooch.
Empress Eugenie’s diamond diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch – an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship – were also stolen.
One piece – Eugenie’s emerald-set imperial crown with more than 1,300 diamonds – was later found damaged outside the museum.
What have officers found so far?
As well as recovering one of the stolen items – a crown that once belonged to Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie – at the scene, French culture minister Rachida Dati said police found “motorcycles and a licence plate”.
They have also recovered evidence from a cherry picker used by the thieves to access the first-floor Galerie d’Apollon, where the jewels were on display.
Ms Dati said: “I also want to pay tribute to the security officers who prevented the basket lift from being set on fire.
“One of the criminals tried to set it on fire, but they forced him to flee.”
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Police face ‘a race against time’
Art detective Mr Brand told Sky News the likelihood of the loot being found intact is reducing every day.
“These crown jewels are so famous, you just cannot sell them,” he said. “The only thing they can do is melt the silver and gold down, dismantle the diamonds, try to cut them. That’s the way they will probably disappear forever.”
He said officers will need to catch the thieves within the week to preserve any hopes of the jewels being recovered.
“If it takes longer, the loot is probably gone and dismantled,” he said. “It’s a race against time.”
