Louvre Heist Suspects Arrested, 1 Captured While Boarding Flight Out Of Country

French police arrested two men Saturday night in connection with the October 18 Louvre Museum heist that saw thieves steal $100 Million worth of crown jewels.

Officers grabbed one suspect at Roissy Airport around 10 p.m. as he prepared to board a flight to Algeria, a local French outlet Le Parisien reported. Police arrested a second man in Seine-Saint-Denis shortly after.

The arrests came after investigators learned one suspect planned to flee the country, triggering an urgent operation by Paris’s Brigade de répression du banditisme (BRB), an organized crime unit, and the Office central de lutte contre le trafic des biens culturels (OCBC), France’s cultural crimes office.

Both men, in their thirties and from Seine-Saint-Denis, face charges of organized gang robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime. Police describe them as experienced criminals with prior burglary convictions who likely acted on commission. (RELATED: Historic ‘First Woman’ Security Chief Oversaw Embarrassing Louvre Heist)

Two men arrested over $100M Louvre Museum jewel heist — as one suspect was busted at airport trying to flee country: report https://t.co/hhScZVxzAK pic.twitter.com/3TODtTMckc

— New York Post (@nypost) October 26, 2025

The October 18 theft saw four men use a stolen cherry picker to break into the Apollo Gallery through a window. Wearing yellow vests and motorcycle helmets, they cut through display cases with power saws and stole eight pieces of royal jewelry that belonged to French queens and empresses.

The thieves dropped Empress Eugénie’s crown during their escape. They also failed to burn the cherry picker and truck they abandoned on a nearby street.

Investigators collected more than 150 forensic samples from the scene, including hair found in a discarded motorcycle helmet. Police believe this hair belongs to the first thief who entered the museum.

The suspects remain in custody at police headquarters on rue du Bastion, where authorities can hold them for 96 hours. More than 100 investigators continue searching for the remaining suspects and the stolen jewelry.

“We will find the perpetrators,” Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had promised after the heist.