Suspects arrested over the theft of crown jewels from the Louvre museum in Paris

Suspects have been arrested in the theft of crown jewels from the Louvre museum in Paris, with one apprehended at Charles de Gaulle Airport Saturday night, according to the the Paris prosecutor.

In a statement, the Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirmed the arrests. She also condemned the leak of information in the case, which she said had forced the authorities to reveal facts prematurely, and which she claimed could hinder the work of over 100 investigators who have been “mobilized to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators”.

The brazen daytime heist at the museum last Sunday stunned France, when four men, dressed as workmen, broke intro an upper floor window using a ladder on a moving truck. They cut into glass cases with an electric saw and made off with over $100 million worth of royal jewels from the 19th Century reign of Emperor Napoleon III.

According to Le Parisien newspaper, the men arrested are from the Paris suburbs. One was preparing to board a flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport with some of the stolen items from the Louvre. Another suspect was arrested later in the evening in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb north of Paris.

French Interior minister Laurent Nunez praised “the investigators who have worked tirelessly, just as I asked them to, and who have always had my full confidence.”