A 39-year-old man suspected of taking part in the Louvre heist was remanded into custody on Tuesday, joining three others already in detention. French prosecutors said he is believed to be the fourth and final member of the masked gang accused of stealing jewels worth an estimated $102 million.
Investigators said the man was arrested one week earlier and is thought to have been part of the group that carried out the raid on the world’s most visited museum. The jewellery taken during the October break-in has not been recovered.
The suspect was born in Seine-Saint-Denis, a working-class department of Paris, and has six previous convictions. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said last week that those convictions included pimping and receiving stolen goods.
His lawyers, Menya Arab-Tigrine and Farida Cagniard, told the French news agency AFP they opposed the decision to remand him in custody, adding the solitary confinement ordered for him at Fresnes jail threatened his “human dignity”.
“At the moment, there is no evidence allowing one to say that he was at the scene [of the heist],” they said.
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Daring raid
The robbery on 19 October saw the thieves park a truck with an extendable ladder below the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery, which houses the French crown jewels.
The gang then climbed the ladder, broke a window and used angle grinders to cut into the glass display booths containing the treasures.
Investigators said the team included four men. Two entered the gallery while the other two waited below. The group then escaped on high-powered motor scooters.
French prosecutors said the latest arrest brought the number of suspects in custody to four. Each is charged with organised theft and criminal conspiracy.
A fifth suspect, a 38-year-old woman who is the partner of one of the men, has been charged with being an accomplice. She was released under judicial supervision pending trial.
Investigators said the stolen items are valued at about €88 million. Authorities have not provided details on the next procedural steps and have not reported any progress in the search for the stolen jewels.
(with AFP)
