A major development in the Louvre heist investigation has been shared, as two former delivery drivers suspected of committing the robbery “partially confessed” to the crime.
However, the valuable jewels that were stolen have not yet been handed over to the police, according to prosecutors.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said during a press conference on Wednesday, October 29, that one suspect was arrested while trying to board an aircraft to Algeria on the night of October 24 with a one-way ticket, according to NBC News. Meanwhile, a second man was arrested close to his home.
Beccuau said that both of the men “partially” admitted to their involvement in the crime, while DNA evidence has linked them both to the heist.
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The first suspect is a 34-year-old man from Algeria, who was unemployed at the time of his arrest. However, he previously worked as a delivery driver. The second suspect is a 39-year-old taxi driver, as well as a former delivery driver. Beccuau added that both of the suspects have criminal pasts.
Beccuau said investigators are still on the hunt to find two other thieves that were involved in the heist, which took place on October 19.
“There is no evidence the thieves benefited from insider help,” she said. “The jewels have not yet been returned to our possession. I do remain hopeful they will be found and return to the Louvre and the French nation.”
Also on October 29, French police acknowledged there are major gaps in the Louvre’s security system after the thieves managed to pull off the heist in broad daylight. Paris Police Chief Patrice Faure told Senate lawmakers that aging systems and slow-moving fixes made for weak security at the famous museum, per NBC News.
“A technological step has not been taken,” he said, noting parts of the video network used at the museum produces lower-quality images that are slow to share in real time.
He added that there will be a revamp in the museum’s security system, though it “will not be finished before 2029-2030” due to the project requiring roughly 60 kilometers of new cabling and costing approximately $93 million.
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Faure went on to share that the Louvre’s authorization to operate its security cameras quietly expired in July and it wasn’t renewed amid a paperwork lapse. Due to the lack of security, the thieves managed to escape the museum with $102 million worth of jewelry within seven minutes.
The first alert to police came from a cyclist outside who dialed the emergency line and not security set up at the museum.
