French authorities announced Tuesday the arrest of four additional suspects in connection with the October 19 daylight theft of historic royal jewels valued at $102 million from the Louvre Museum in Paris.
The two men, aged 38 and 39, and two women, aged 31 and 40, all from the Paris region, were taken into custody as part of the ongoing investigation led by Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau.
Police can detain them for up to 96 hours for questioning.
The prosecutor’s office did not specify the suspected roles of the newly arrested individuals.
On October 19, four thieves executed a meticulously planned operation that lasted less than eight minutes.
Two men used a truck-mounted hydraulic lift to reach a second-floor window of the Louvre’s ornate Apollo Gallery, smashed the glass, and entered the exhibition space housing French crown jewels.
Once inside, they used angle grinders to cut open high-security display cases and removed multiple historic pieces, including a diamond-and-emerald necklace given by Napoleon I to Empress Marie-Louise, jewelry associated with 19th-century Queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense, and Empress Eugénie’s pearl-and-diamond tiara.
The thieves fled on scooters driven by two waiting accomplices.
During the escape, the emerald-set imperial crown of Empress Eugénie — containing over 1,300 diamonds — fell and was later recovered outside the museum.
The remaining stolen items have not been found.
Four other individuals were arrested shortly after the robbery.
Three men face preliminary charges of theft by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy, while a woman is charged with complicity.
DNA evidence linked several of the earlier suspects to items used in the heist, including the hydraulic lift basket.
Some previously arrested suspects have prior convictions for theft and connections to the northeastern Paris suburb of Aubervilliers.
The case has raised significant questions about security protocols at the world’s most-visited museum.