The police have made arrests in the brazen jewelry heist last week at the Louvre Museum in Paris, the French authorities said on Sunday, without specifying how many people had been taken into custody.
The robbery, which stunned France, was carried out by four people. Laure Beccuau, the Paris prosecutor, said in a statement that the arrests were made on Saturday evening and that one man was taken into custody at the Charles de Gaulle Airport as he was trying to leave the country.
It was not immediately clear whether the police had recovered any of the stolen jewelry, which is worth more than $100 million and includes gem-studded royal tiaras, necklaces and earrings dating to the 19th century.
The arrests were a major breakthrough for French investigators, who are racing to find the thieves before the jewelry is dismantled and the rare stones and metals can be sold or melted down, as many experts fear they will be.
The robbery in broad daylight at the Louvre has put an uncomfortable spotlight on security lapses at the famous museum.
Laurence des Cars, the head of the Louvre, acknowledged during a tense Senate hearing last week that much of the museum’s security system was badly outdated and that the only exterior camera near where the thieves broke in was facing away from them.
That cost the authorities precious minutes in their response time to the heist, which lasted less than 10 minutes.
The thieves, posing as workers, had used a truck-mounted device to reach the second floor before breaking through a window with power tools and clambering into the Louvre’s gilded Apollo Gallery. There, they cut through reinforced glass display cases and grabbed eight precious crown jewels, before speeding away on motor scooters.
The arrests were first reported by French news media citing anonymous sources, apparently catching the authorities by surprise.
“I deeply regret the hasty disclosure of this information,” Ms. Beccuau said in her statement. She said that the leaked information would hinder “the 100 or so investigators who mobilized in the search for both the stolen jewelry and for all of the criminals.”
Ms. Beccuau said that she would provide more information only after the police finished questioning the suspects.
In a recent interview with Ouest-France newspaper, Ms. Beccuau said that investigators had collected more than 150 forensic samples. That included DNA traces and fingerprints at the crime scene and on objects that the thieves left behind, including power tools, gloves and a motorcycle helmet.
Ms. Beccuau also said that investigators had analyzed video surveillance footage to track the thieves’ escape, although she did not provide details on the route they took.
“The amount of media coverage this organized robbery has received gives me a glimmer of hope that the perpetrators won’t dare to move the jewelry too far,” Ms. Beccuau told the newspaper. “And that we’ll be able to find it if we act quickly.”
After the announcement of arrests on Sunday, Laurent Nuñez, France’s interior minister, praised the investigators who “worked relentlessly,” but he insisted that their work must remain confidential.
In an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, Mr. Nuñez also opposed a suggestion by the head of the Louvre that the police should be permanently stationed inside the museum.
“If we start with the Louvre, we’ll end up putting them everywhere,” Mr. Nuñez said, arguing that the nearest police station was already very close and that the Louvre’s neighborhood, in the heart of the French capital, was heavily patrolled. The Louvre already has a permanent 52-member force of firefighters.
“As soon as the alert was raised, the police were there within three minutes,” Mr. Nuñez said of the robbery. “It wouldn’t have made any difference.”
Construction work is expected to start early next year on an 80 million euro security overhaul (about $93 million) of the Louvre that includes refurbished command centers, more surveillance cameras and an updated badge system. The overhaul is part of a broader renovation plan announced by President Emmanuel Macron this year.
Ségolène Le Stradic contributed reporting.
Aurelien Breeden is a reporter for The Times in Paris, covering news from France.
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