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

This photo provided Thursday Oct. 23, 2025 by Interpol and taken from its website shows the jewels stolen in the Louvre museum on Sunday Oct.19, 2025 in Paris.
AP
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Interpol
This photo provided Thursday Oct. 23, 2025 by Interpol and taken from its website shows the jewels stolen in the Louvre museum on Sunday Oct.19, 2025 in Paris.

Updated October 26, 2025 at 8:27 AM EDT

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."

Copyright 2025 NPR

Eleanor Beardsley
Eleanor Beardsley is the Paris correspondent for National Public Radio where she covers all aspects of French society, politics, economics, culture and gastronomy. She is also a core part of NPR's breaking news team in Europe and beyond, recently covering the conflict in Israel, the earthquake in Morocco, and the war in Ukraine. Beardsley began reporting from Ukraine in 2014 as the conflict started. She was on the ground in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on February 24, 2022, when Russia invaded.

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