The French police have arrested five more people in connection with the spectacular jewel theft at the Louvre, including one of the thieves who was believed to have been at the scene, the prosecutor overseeing the investigation said on Thursday.
The DNA of one suspect connected him to the crime Laure Beccuau, the Paris prosecutor, said in an interview with RTL, a French radio station. The other four “are people who may potentially inform us about the unfolding of these events,” she added.
The arrests were made on Wednesday evening in operations across the Paris region. But the jewelry has not yet been recovered, Ms. Beccuau said.
Two thieves broke into the Louvre more than a week ago, using disc grinders to cut through a window to the second-floor Apollo Gallery. They stole some of France’s crown jewels that were worth more than $100 million, before escaping on high-powered motor scooters driven by two accomplices.
Two other suspects were arrested four days ago, including one at the Charles de Gaulle airport as he was attempting to fly to Algeria. The two men have been charged with theft by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy. They are accused of riding the truck-mounted electric ladder that was used to reach the gallery’s balcony from a road outside and cutting into the display cases inside before escaping on the scooters.
Ms. Beccuau said investigators, who number about 100, used various techniques to track the thieves. The thieves escaped less than a minute before police and security agents arrived on the scene.
“Everything obviously begins with the DNA traces, the fingerprints, everything that can be found at the scene,” she said. “Then, we have everything related to video surveillance, and then we have their phones, and then we have the discovery of other objects during the searches, and brick by brick, the investigation is being built and tightening around those who may be involved.”
Ségolène Le Stradic contributed reporting from Paris.
Catherine Porter is an international reporter for The Times, covering France. She is based in Paris.
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