The Paris prosecutor said on Sunday that a number of suspects have been arrested over the theft of crown jewels from the Louvre museum.
Laure Beccuau said in a statement that the arrests were made on Saturday evening, but she did not say exactly how many people were taken into custody.
The arrests follow a week-long manhunt following the robbery at the famous museum in Paris, which saw thieves escape with multiple items of jewellery.
The heist, which took place on October 18, saw more than £76 million worth of jewellery stolen, including the French crown jewels, according to prosecutors.
An emerald necklace and earrings, two crowns, two brooches, a sapphire necklace and a single earring were stolen during the daylight robbery, which saw thieves use a truck equipped with a cherry picker to break in through a balcony window.
French media BFM TV and Le Parisien newspaper earlier reported that two suspects had been arrested and taken into custody. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau did not confirm the number of arrests.
According to Le Parisien newspaper, two of the men who have been arrested were originally from the Parisian suburb of Seine-Sainte-Denis, and one was preparing to board a flight from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport.
They are suspected of being part of the four-man group who were seen breaking into the museum wearing yellow vests and motorcycle helmets.
How the thieves carried out the theft at the Louvre
The thieves smashed the balcony window leading in to the Apollo Gallery, where they used angle grinders to break through glass to steal the jewellery.
The museum’s director called the incident a “terrible failure.”
Beccuau said investigators from the anti-gang brigade made the arrests. She rued in her statement the premature leak of information, saying it could hinder the work of over 100 investigators “mobilized to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators.”
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