Two suspects in the daring Louvre heist that saw $100 million worth of historic French crown jewels disappear have been caught, according to authorities. Unfortunately, the dazzling royal gems are still missing.
The breathtakingly daring and mind-bogglingly successful daytime Louvre robbery this month saw four robbers use a cherry-picker to climb into the museum, destroy glass cases with chainsaws, steal the jewels under the eyes of guests, and slip out without ever being challenged or caught. Two of these suspects are now in handcuffs, however. It remains to be seen whether the French police will be able to recover any of the stolen pieces.
One suspect was at Paris Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle Airport boarding a flight to Algeria when he was exposed and caught, according to Le Parisien via the New York Post.
The men, both in their 30s and from Seine-Saint-Denis, a rough suburb north of Paris, were detained by police as part of the investigation of “organized gang robbery” and “conspiracy to commit a crime.”
Police were tipped off on Saturday about one of the suspects likely to be flying out of the country and heading to Algeria in North Africa …
The second suspect was arrested shortly afterward in Paris.
No names have yet been released for either of the two arrested suspects or the two who have not been caught. Police supposedly know the robbers from past crimes.
While the missing crown jewels, which belonged to 19th century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense, were valued at $100 million, their historic connections to key French royals makes them irreplaceable.
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The Empress Eugénie’s imperial crown, set with emeralds and some 1,300 diamonds, was discovered outside the Louvre damaged but in a state fit for restoration. Eugénie was the wife of French Emperor Napoleon III.
The New York Post reported:
The alleged thieves are known by police for past robberies and are believed to have conducted the high-profile heist on commission, Le Parisien reported.
Last week, the four-man crew dressed in yellow vests and motorcycle helmets as they broke into the famed French museum… Empress Eugénie’s diamond diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch — an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship — were stolen from the famed museum.
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The jewels that were not stolen have been moved to a secure vault at the Bank of France. Police have over 100 DNA, hair, and fingerprint samples from the robbers. Hence the authorities can presumably identify the robbers with certainty.
The whole situation is surreal for me personally, because I was at the Louvre only two months ago and saw the very crown jewels stolen in the heist. I can personally attest to the fact that there seemed to be a serious understaffing problem at the museum overall, with whole galleries left unwatched. That enabled the robbers to climb through a window, steal the loot, leave numerous identifying traces, and escape without encountering security.
France is so busy being “diverse” and woke that it is letting thieves make off with its history. But what else is new?
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