French police have arrested two suspects in connection with the audacious daylight theft of crown jewels worth €88 million from the Louvre Museum last Sunday — one of the most brazen art

crimes in recent French history.

According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, one suspect was detained on Saturday evening as he prepared to board a flight to Algeria from Charles de Gaulle Airport. The second man, reportedly planning to travel to Mali, was arrested shortly after. Both are being held for questioning and can be detained for up to 96 hours.

Authorities say four masked thieves stormed the museum early Sunday morning, arriving in a vehicle equipped with a mechanical lift. Using the lift, they reached a first-floor balcony of the Galerie d’Apollon — home to France’s royal crown jewels — before cutting through a window with power tools.

Once inside, the thieves threatened security guards and smashed open two display cases, making off with priceless pieces in just four minutes. They fled the scene on two scooters waiting outside the museum, disappearing into the streets of Paris before police could respond.

The Louvre’s director, Laurence des Cars, admitted before a Senate hearing this week that the museum’s security systems had serious blind spots. A preliminary investigation found that one in three rooms in the targeted area had no CCTV coverage, and the only exterior camera near the break-in point was facing the wrong direction.

Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti has acknowledged that security “failed,” calling the incident a “terrible image for France.”

Investigators fear the stolen jewels may have already been dismantled. “Gold can be melted down and gems recut into smaller stones — once that happens, they’re nearly impossible to trace,” Dutch art detective Arthur Brand told the BBC.

In the wake of the heist, the Louvre has tightened security across all of its galleries and transferred its remaining crown jewels to the Bank of France. The treasures will now be stored 26 meters underground in one of the bank’s most secure vaults in central Paris.

The investigation remains ongoing as police continue to search for the other two suspects and any trace of the missing jewels. Photo by Herry Lawford from Stockbridge, UK, Wikimedia commons.