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Two men who were arrested over jewels stolen in a brazen heist at the Louvre museum this month will be charged for theft by an organised gang, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said at a press conference in Paris. Prosecutors will ask that the men be jailed while the investigation continues, she said, adding that the royal necklaces, tiaras and earrings that were stolen have not been found yet. The pair will also be charged with criminal conspiracy. Both offences come with lengthy prison terms, she said. Beccuau described the stages of the theft, and some of the techniques used to find the two men who were arrested, including getting DNA samples from a scooter used in the getaway for one and from a broken window and objects dropped as they fled the scene for another. She declined, however, to go into detail on avenues police are exploring to find other members of the group that carried out the theft or to get back the jewels themselves. “The investigation remains confidential with regard to the individuals still being sought,” she said at the press conference on Wednesday. “The jewellery is not yet in our possession. I want to remain hopeful that it will be found and returned to the Louvre Museum and, more broadly, to the nation.” Politicians, French police and the Louvre’s security staff have been criticised for not stopping the heist. The lax outdoor surveillance that allowed a furniture hoist to park up outside the museum unnoticed, could have made it a more attractive target than the closely guarded jewellery stores at the Place Vendome. What happens to the jewels that were taken has also been a much-discussed topic, given, as Beccuau noted on Wednesday that they are “unsellable”. The two men being charged have “partially admitted their involvement” in the crime, the prosecutor said. One, 34, was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport with a one-way ticket to Algeria while the other, 39, was halted near his home in Aubervilliers, a suburb of Paris. Video surveillance confirmed that at least four people took part in the theft on site and the investigation found that the hoist they used to get into the Louvre had been stolen on October 10. Beccuau said that there was no indication at this point that the group had benefited from complicity from people within the museum.
