PARIS.- The prosecutor of ParisLaure Beccuau, stated on Sunday that the spectacular robbery at the Louvre Museum could be the work of small-time criminals and specified that two of the suspects The detainees are a couple with children.
Two weeks ago, a four-man commando entered the Parisian museum in broad daylight and, in a matter of minutes, stole jewelry of the French crown with an estimated value of 102 million dollars, which remain unaccounted for.
Beccuau told France Info: “The profiles of the detained suspects do not match those generally associated with the highest levels of organized crime.” However, he recalled that there are little-known profiles in organized crime that rise quite quickly to extremely serious crimes.
On the day of the robbery, two assailants entered the Louvre using a forklift installed on a public street, forced open the display cases containing the relics with a disc saw, and escaped on two motorcycles driven by their accomplices.
French authorities initially announced the arrest of two individuals, whom they charged and imprisoned last Wednesday.
Five other people were arrested this week in the Paris region, but three were released on Saturday and two were charged and remanded in custody. This is an alleged assailant, 37 years old, and his partner, a 38-year-old woman, with whom he has children, the prosecutor indicated on Sunday.
“They denied any involvement,” Beccuau added, specifying that the man did not want to testify.
The suspect was charged with organized robbery and criminal conspiracy, while his partner was charged with complicity in organized robbery and criminal conspiracy.
The woman appeared crying before the Paris court on Saturday and said she feared for her children and for herself.
Both were arrested after traces of their DNA were found on the forklift used in the robbery.
Although the man’s DNA samples are significant, investigators fear that his partner’s DNA samples may have been transferred through contact with a person or object, the prosecutor said.
“All this must be investigated,” he said.
Other suspects
Saturday’s defendant has a criminal record, with 11 previous convictions, most of them for theft.
In fact, he was involved in another assault with one of the individuals imprisoned on Wednesday, the prosecutor stressed, for which they were convicted in 2015 in Paris.
At least one of the perpetrators of the robbery is still at large, while there could be other accomplices who used relief vehicles.
At the moment, the loot, which includes a pearl diadem that belonged to Empress Eugenie and a set of sapphire necklace and earrings from Queen Maria Amelia, remains missing.
