PARIS: The dragnet tightened around the Louvre on Thursday. Five more people were seized in the crown-jewels heist — including a suspect tied by DNA — the Paris prosecutor said, widening the sweep across the capital and its suburbs. Authorities said three of the four alleged members of the “commando” team, as French media have dubbed the robbers, are now in custody.
The late-night operations in Paris and nearby Seine-Saint-Denis lift the total arrested to seven. Prosecutor Laure Beccuau told RTL that one detainee is suspected of belonging to the brazen quartet that burst into the Apollo Gallery in broad daylight on Oct. 19; others held “may be able to inform us about how the events unfolded.”
Beccuau called the response an “exceptional mobilization” — about 100 investigators, seven days a week, with roughly 150 forensic samples analyzed and 189 items sealed as evidence.
Even so, she said the latest arrests did not uncover the loot — a trove valued around $102 million that includes a diamond-and-emerald necklace Napoleon gave to Empress Marie-Louise as a wedding gift, jewels tied to 19th-century Queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense, and Empress Eugénie’s pearl-and-diamond tiara.
Only one relic has surfaced so far — Eugénie’s crown, damaged but salvageable, dropped in the escape.
Beccuau renewed her appeal: “These jewels are now, of course, unsellable… There’s still time to give them back.”
Experts warn the gold could be melted and the stones re-cut to erase their past.
The choreography of a four-minute crime
Key planning details have snapped into focus. Nine days before the raid, thieves stole a truck-mounted lift — the kind movers use to reach upper floors — after answering a fake moving ad on the French classifieds site Leboncoin, Beccuau said Wednesday.
On the day itself, the same vehicle idled beneath the Louvre’s riverside façade.
At 9:30 a.m. it rose to the Apollo Gallery window; at 9:34 the glass gave way; by 9:38 the crew was gone — a four-minute strike. Only the “near-simultaneous” arrival of police and museum security stopped the thieves from torching the lift and preserved crucial traces, the prosecutor said.
Security footage shows at least four men forcing a window, cutting into two display cases with power tools and fleeing on two scooters toward eastern Paris. Investigators say there is no sign of insider help for now, though they are not ruling out a wider network beyond the four on camera.
The reckoning over security
French police have acknowledged major gaps in the Louvre’s defenses, turning an audacious theft — — carried out as visitors walked its corridors — into a national reckoning over how France protects its treasures.
Paris police chief Patrice Faure told senators the first alert to police came not from the Louvre’s security systems but from a cyclist outside who dialed the emergency line after seeing helmeted men with a basket lift. He acknowledged that aging, partly analog cameras and slow fixes left seams; $93 million of cabling work won’t finish before 2029–30, and the Louvre’s camera authorization even lapsed in July. Officers arrived fast, he said, but the delay came earlier in the chain.
Speaking to AP, former bank robber David Desclos characterized the heist as textbook and said he had warned the Louvre of glaring vulnerabilities in the layout of the Apollo Gallery. The Louvre has not responded to the claim.
Who’s charged already
Two earlier suspects, men aged 34 and 39 from Aubervilliers, north of Paris, were charged Wednesday with theft by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy after nearly 96 hours in custody. Beccuau said both gave “minimalist” statements and “partially admitted” their involvement.
One was stopped at Charles-de-Gaulle Airport with a one-way ticket to Algeria; his DNA matched a scooter used in the getaway.
French law normally keeps active investigations under a shroud of secrecy to protect police work and victims’ privacy. Only the prosecutor may speak publicly, though in high-profile cases police unions have occasionally shared partial details.
The brazen smash-and-grab inside the world’s most-visited museum stunned the heritage world. Four men, a lift truck and a stopwatch turned the Apollo Gallery’s blaze of gold and light into a crime scene — and a test of how France guards what it holds most dear.
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5 more arrests as Louvre jewel heist probe deepens and key details emerge
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5 more arrests as Louvre jewel heist probe deepens and key details emerge
- The late-night operations in Paris and nearby Seine-Saint-Denis lift the total arrested to seven
- Beccuau called the response an “exceptional mobilization” — about 100 investigators, seven days a week, with roughly 150 forensic samples analyzed and 189 items sealed as evidence
Japan’s Takaichi aims for blizzard of votes in rare winter election
- Polls suggest big gains for Sanae Takaichi’s LDP-Ishin coalition
- Japan’s first female leader seeks to capitalize on youth appeal
TOKYO: Japanese voters trudged through snow on Sunday to cast their ballots in an election predicted to hand Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi a resounding win, though record dumps in some parts of the country snarled traffic and could dent turnout.
The conservative coalition of Takaichi, the nation’s first female leader, is on track to win around 300 of the 465 seats in the lower house of parliament, according to multiple opinion polls, a large gain from the 233 it is defending.
Outside a polling station in a small town in the central prefecture of Niigata, where snow piled up more than 2 meters (7 feet) in places, teacher Kazushige Cho, 54, said he was determined to vote for Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party despite the conditions.
“She’s shown strong leadership and pushes various policies forward,” he said. “I think things could turn out quite well.”
Takaichi rides ‘Sanakatsu’ wave among young voters
Takaichi, 64, who became prime minister in October after being selected LDP leader, called the rare winter election to try to ride a wave of personal popularity.
With a straight-talking style and an image as a hard worker that have won her support, Takaichi has accelerated military spending to counter China, angering Beijing, and pushed for a sales-tax cut that has rattled financial markets.
“If Takaichi wins big, she will have more political room to follow through on key commitments, including on consumption-tax cuts,” said Seiji Inada, managing director at FGS Global, a consultancy. “Markets could react in the following days, and the yen could come under renewed pressure.”
Her promise to suspend the 8 percent sales tax on food for two years to help households cope with rising prices has spooked investors concerned about how the nation with the heaviest debt burden among advanced economies will fund the plan.
Niigata resident Mineko Mori, 74, padding through the snow with her dog early on Sunday, said she worried that Takaichi’s tax cuts could saddle future generations with an even bigger burden.
Mori planned to vote for Sanseito, a small far-right party that broke through in a 2025 upper house ballot with promises to crack down on badly behaved foreigners and control immigration.
But younger voters are among the most supportive of Takaichi, with one recent poll finding more than 90 percent of those under 30 favored her.
The prime minister has sparked an unlikely youth-led craze called “sanakatsu,” roughly translated as “Sanae-mania,” with the products she uses, such as her handbag and the pink pen she scribbles notes with in parliament, in high demand.
That young cohort, however, is less likely to vote than the older generations that have long been the bedrock of LDP support.
On Thursday, Takaichi received the endorsement of US President Donald Trump, a signal that may appeal to right-leaning voters.
If the coalition of Takaichi’s LDP with the Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin, wins a supermajority of 310 seats, she could override the upper chamber, where the coalition does not have a majority.
If the polls have it all wrong and Takaichi loses control of the lower house, she has vowed to step down.
Whiteout could boost organized voting blocs
With up to 70 cm (28 inches) of snow forecast in northern regions, some voters will battle blizzard conditions to pass their verdict on her administration. It is only the third postwar election held in February, with elections typically called during milder months.
Even the capital Tokyo was given a rare covering of snow, causing some minor traffic disruptions.
Nationwide, 37 train lines and 58 ferry routes were halted and 54 flights canceled as of Sunday morning, according to the transport ministry.
Turnout in recent lower house elections has hovered around the mid-50 percent range. Any slump on Sunday could amplify the influence of organized voting blocs.
One of those is Komeito, which last year quit its coalition with the LDP and has merged into a centrist group with the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. Komeito has close ties to the lay-Buddhist Soka Gakkai group, which claims at least 8 million members nationwide.
Voters will pick lawmakers in 289 single-seat constituencies, with the rest decided by proportional-representation votes for parties. Polls close at 8 p.m. (1100 GMT), when broadcasters are expected to issue projections based on their exit polls.
The conservative coalition of Takaichi, the nation’s first female leader, is on track to win around 300 of the 465 seats in the lower house of parliament, according to multiple opinion polls, a large gain from the 233 it is defending.
Outside a polling station in a small town in the central prefecture of Niigata, where snow piled up more than 2 meters (7 feet) in places, teacher Kazushige Cho, 54, said he was determined to vote for Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party despite the conditions.
“She’s shown strong leadership and pushes various policies forward,” he said. “I think things could turn out quite well.”
Takaichi rides ‘Sanakatsu’ wave among young voters
Takaichi, 64, who became prime minister in October after being selected LDP leader, called the rare winter election to try to ride a wave of personal popularity.
With a straight-talking style and an image as a hard worker that have won her support, Takaichi has accelerated military spending to counter China, angering Beijing, and pushed for a sales-tax cut that has rattled financial markets.
“If Takaichi wins big, she will have more political room to follow through on key commitments, including on consumption-tax cuts,” said Seiji Inada, managing director at FGS Global, a consultancy. “Markets could react in the following days, and the yen could come under renewed pressure.”
Her promise to suspend the 8 percent sales tax on food for two years to help households cope with rising prices has spooked investors concerned about how the nation with the heaviest debt burden among advanced economies will fund the plan.
Niigata resident Mineko Mori, 74, padding through the snow with her dog early on Sunday, said she worried that Takaichi’s tax cuts could saddle future generations with an even bigger burden.
Mori planned to vote for Sanseito, a small far-right party that broke through in a 2025 upper house ballot with promises to crack down on badly behaved foreigners and control immigration.
But younger voters are among the most supportive of Takaichi, with one recent poll finding more than 90 percent of those under 30 favored her.
The prime minister has sparked an unlikely youth-led craze called “sanakatsu,” roughly translated as “Sanae-mania,” with the products she uses, such as her handbag and the pink pen she scribbles notes with in parliament, in high demand.
That young cohort, however, is less likely to vote than the older generations that have long been the bedrock of LDP support.
On Thursday, Takaichi received the endorsement of US President Donald Trump, a signal that may appeal to right-leaning voters.
If the coalition of Takaichi’s LDP with the Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin, wins a supermajority of 310 seats, she could override the upper chamber, where the coalition does not have a majority.
If the polls have it all wrong and Takaichi loses control of the lower house, she has vowed to step down.
Whiteout could boost organized voting blocs
With up to 70 cm (28 inches) of snow forecast in northern regions, some voters will battle blizzard conditions to pass their verdict on her administration. It is only the third postwar election held in February, with elections typically called during milder months.
Even the capital Tokyo was given a rare covering of snow, causing some minor traffic disruptions.
Nationwide, 37 train lines and 58 ferry routes were halted and 54 flights canceled as of Sunday morning, according to the transport ministry.
Turnout in recent lower house elections has hovered around the mid-50 percent range. Any slump on Sunday could amplify the influence of organized voting blocs.
One of those is Komeito, which last year quit its coalition with the LDP and has merged into a centrist group with the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. Komeito has close ties to the lay-Buddhist Soka Gakkai group, which claims at least 8 million members nationwide.
Voters will pick lawmakers in 289 single-seat constituencies, with the rest decided by proportional-representation votes for parties. Polls close at 8 p.m. (1100 GMT), when broadcasters are expected to issue projections based on their exit polls.
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