French investigators have arrested two suspects over the Louvre Museum robbery, one of whom was detained at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport on Saturday evening as he prepared to board a flight reportedly bound for Algeria.
The second was arrested later the same night in the Paris region. Both men are being questioned on suspicion of organised gang theft and criminal conspiracy. The Paris prosecutor’s office said the investigation remains active and it is too early to provide further details.
The arrests come a week after the theft in the museum’s Galerie d’Apollon on Sunday, 19 October. At about 9.30am, a group reached a first-floor window using a lift platform positioned on the Quai François-Mitterrand side. They broke the window and display cases, removed selected items, and fled on powerful scooters. The operation lasted around seven to eight minutes, according to accounts compiled by investigators and officials.
Prosecutor Laure Beccuau has put the estimated loss at €88 million. The figure reflects the market value of the pieces taken but does not capture their historic importance. The items form part of France’s Crown Jewels display, including 19th-century pieces associated with Empress Eugénie and queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense. One tiara attributed to Eugénie was recovered near the museum soon after the raid.
Portrait of Empress Eugénie in court dress, 19th-century painting after German painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter. The wife of Napoleon III is wearing a diamond and pearl diadem on her head and gesturing toward a gold and diamond crown, both of which were stolen from the Louvre during an October 2025 heist. The crown was recovered outside the museum, the burglars apparently having dropped it in their haste to flee the scene, but the diadem remained missing.
The inquiry is being led by the Brigade de Répression du Banditisme (BRB) with support from the Office Central de Lutte contre le Trafic de Biens Culturels (OCBC). Around 100 investigators have been mobilised to identify the full team and track the jewels. Officials are examining extensive CCTV from the museum and surrounding streets, vehicle movements, and communications data. International notices have been circulated to hinder the movement or sale of the pieces.
Saturday’s detentions — including the airport arrest at about 10pm — are the first significant breakthrough reported by French media. Paris prosecutors did not confirm identities or total numbers of suspects in custody and indicated further information would be provided at the end of the initial custody phase.
Security arrangements at the museum have been under scrutiny since the incident. Culture Minister Laurent Nuñez said he opposes installing a permanent police station inside the Louvre, a measure floated by the museum’s management following the theft. He noted that a police station is located close to the site and officers arrived within minutes of the alarm on 19 October.
According to accounts gathered since the robbery, the team used a construction-type platform to access the gallery and focused on a small number of cases, suggesting prior reconnaissance. The display cases were modern and alarmed; the alert triggered an immediate police response. The precision and speed of the operation have led investigators to treat it as a planned action by an experienced group.
Recovery of the stolen items remains the priority. In comparable cases, jewellery is sometimes broken up or re-set to frustrate identification. Auction houses and dealers have been alerted, and cross-border checks have been stepped up. Officials have emphasised the cultural harm caused by the loss, over and above the financial estimate.
Key details confirmed to date are as follows. The burglary occurred on Sunday, 19 October 2025, at about 9.30am, lasted seven to eight minutes, and targeted eight pieces from the Crown Jewels display in the Galerie d’Apollon. The Paris prosecutor on 21 October placed the initial loss estimate at €88 million. On Saturday, 25 October, two suspects were arrested; one was detained at CDG airport while apparently preparing to leave for Algeria, the other in the Paris area. The investigation is led by the BRB with the OCBC.
The Louvre reopened to visitors after the initial forensic work, though the Galerie d’Apollon remains closed pending security reviews. Museum leadership and the Culture Ministry are assessing additional measures following parliamentary scrutiny last week.
Further updates are expected from the prosecutor’s office once the current custody period concludes. For now, police are pursuing accomplices and focusing on preventing the dispersion of the jewels.
