- - Petty thieves or professionals? What we know about Louvre heist suspects

Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY November 3, 2025 at 1:16 AM

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Two more suspects have been arrested and charged in connection with the brazen daytime heist of Paris’ Louvre Museum, prosecutors say.

A 37-year-old man and 38-year-old woman, believed to be romantically involved, were arrested Oct. 29 and charged Nov. 1 on counts related to criminal conspiracy and organized theft. Both suspects deny involvement in the heist.

The arrests come days after prosecutors said two other suspects charged in the case “partially admitted” their involvement. All four suspects accused of robbing over $102 million worth of royal jewels remain in custody, though the stolen artifacts are still missing.

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Thieves broke into a second-story window, shattered a glass display case, and made off with eight pieces of royal jewelry from the Apollo Gallery before escaping on motorbikes shortly after the Louvre opened on Oct. 19.

Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau told France Info Radio on Nov. 2 that “at least one person” believed to have been involved with the heist is still missing. Police released three other people who were arrested along with the couple Oct. 29 without charge.

Who are the suspects?

Arrests of the 37- and 38-year-old come nearly a week after two others charged for the robbery were detained.

The 37-year-old man has a record of theft, Beccuau alleged. Officials believe he was part of a four-man team that stole the jewels, based on DNA evidence found inside a truck they used.

Prior to his arrest, the man had 11 criminal convictions ranging from traffic-related offences to aggravated theft and an attempt to break into an automated teller machine. In 2015, he was arrested with one of the other suspects for a different robbery, Beccuau said.

French riot police officers walk near the glass Pyramid of the Louvre Museum, after French police arrested suspects in the Louvre heist case, in Paris, France October 27, 2025.

The two other men charged in the case include a 34-year-old Algerian individual who has lived in France since 2010 and a 39-year-old who was already under judicial supervision in an aggravated theft case. They both lived in a low-income neighborhood in northern Paris.

The woman’s DNA was also found in the truck, though prosecutors believe the traces were transferred there by a person or object.

The two suspects have children together, Beccuau said, and the woman was charged with complicity in organized theft.

Petty criminals or professionals?

French officials and the Louvre Museum have come under international fire in the days and weeks after the heist for security insufficiencies that allowed thieves to steal priceless artifacts in broad daylight.

Now, prosecutors say, the men who broke into the famous museum weren’t professional criminals, but rather, small-time local criminals.

"This is not quite everyday delinquency... but it is a type of delinquency that we do not generally associate with the upper echelons of organized crime," Beccuau said during her Nov. 2 interview on France Info radio.

“These are clearly local people. They all live more or less in Seine-Saint-Denis," she added, referring to the low-income neighborhood in Paris. The backgrounds of all four people arrested do not fit the profile of organized criminals who would have planned a complicated theft of the world’s most-visited museum, Beccuau suggested.

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Paris prosecutor says Louvre thieves were amateurs. What we know

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