Five more people have been arrested within the framework of the investigations by the , confirmed this Thursday to the the prosecutor of Paris, Laure Beccuau. These arrests were carried out simultaneously in various places in the Paris regionaround 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 29.
One of those arrested last night stated “he was researchers’ goal” and they have “DNA evidence that links him to the robbery.” “He was one of the suspects we had in our sights,” he added.
They thus join the last weekendwhich as announced on Wednesday Became, “they partially recognized the facts” and they have already been sent to prison after being accused of “robbery in an organized gang, and criminal association with a view to committing a crime”
Although the images captured by the security cameras “revealed the presence of four perpetrators” in what the prosecutor described as a “commando operation”the researchers kept open “the possibility” that the group involved was broader.
Beccuau raised the possibility that behind it there was “a top level of organization“, which could include “a possible intellectual author or possible recipients” of the stolen jewelry. However, he stressed that “nothing at this time suggests that the perpetrators had accomplices within the museum.”
The first two detainees, both already known to the police
He first of those arresteda citizen 34 year old Algerianwas intercepted on Saturday in the Roissy airport when he was trying to board a ship to Algeria without a ticket back to France. According to authorities, the man, who was unemployed, has both police and judicial recordsmainly due to traffic crimesand had already been convicted of robbery. His genetic profile was identified on one of the motorcycles used during the assault.
The second suspect, 39 years and originating from Aubervillierswas captured in the vicinity of your home. “There is no indication that he was trying to leave the country,” the prosecutor said. This individual also already appeared in police records for aggravated robberies committed in 2008 and 2014.
Furthermore, there was under judicial surveillance for another similar casewhose trial was scheduled for November. His DNA was located both on one of the damaged shop windows and on several objects that the thieves left behind during their escape.
The jewelry is still missing
Beccuau also recognized that the jewelry, still have not been recoveredalthough he showed his confidence that they can be recovered by stating: “I want to maintain the hope that they will be found and returned to the Louvre Museum and to the nation.”
In this sense, he warned that They are “now unsellable” and that “whoever buys them would be guilty of receiving“. In addition, he sent a direct message to those who may have them in their possession: “Still there is time to return them“.
Likewise, he recalled that the Eugenie’s crownwhich the assailants “dropped during their escape,” was “recovered” by the researchers. However, the museum director warned that its restoration will represent a considerable challenge.
