Two men have been arrested following a robbery at the Louvre museum in Paris which saw thieves escape with priceless jewellery, including part of the French crown jewels.
The men, who were taken into custody on Saturday, are suspected of being part of the group of criminals who used a cherry picker to reach a window in the Apollo Gallery.
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The arrested men are originally from Seine-Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, according to French daily paper Le Parisien.
One man was arrested at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport around 10pm by border police and handed over to officers, as he was preparing to leave the country.
A second man was arrested on the same evening, also in the Paris region.
The operation is understood to have been swiftly launched after investigators, who had been monitoring the two individuals for days, realised that one of them was about to flee abroad. French media is reporting he was set to board a flight to Algeria.
The two suspects are now in pre-trial detention as part of investigations into “organised theft” and “criminal conspiracy to commit a crime”.
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Commenting on the arrests, French public prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirmed that arrests were made on Saturday night, with one man arrested as he was preparing to leave the country from Roissy Airport.
Ms Beccuau showed her disapproval of the way the arrests were announced, 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.”
She said it was too early to provide any further details, but would say more the end of the period of police custody, which is expected to hold for up to 96 hours.
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Sky News has contacted French police for comment.
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