Two men arrested after Louvre jewel heist

Two suspects in their 30s detained on Saturday evening in relation to €88m robbery, according to Paris prosecutor

A basket lift used by thieves is seen at the Louvre museum. Picture: AP Photo/Alexander Turnbull

Two suspects have been arrested in relation to last Sunday’s heist at the Louvre museum in Paris, in which a gang of four men made off with crown jewels worth an estimated €88m, according to the Paris prosecutor.

Citing police sources, Le Parisien newpaper said on Sunday that the men, both in their 30s and from Seine St-Denis outside the French capital, were detained on Saturday evening as part of an investigation by the Paris organised crime squad.

One of the suspects was apprehended around 10pm on Saturday at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport as he was about to board a plane abroad, French media Le Parisien and Paris Match reported.

The gang pulled up outside the world’s most visited museum at 9.30am last Sunday in a stolen furniture removal truck fitted with an extending ladder and lift, in which two of them mounted to the first-floor Apollo gallery.

Wearing hi-vis vests to resemble construction workers, they smashed an unsecured window and then used disc cutters to open two display cases in the ornate gallery before descending in the bucket lift and making their escape on the back of motorbikes driven by the other two members of the gang.

• The Guardian