A 38-year-old woman was today charged with complicity and detained, while a man was released without charge, in the investigation into the recent robbery of the Louvre Museum in Paris, which attracted worldwide attention and whose stolen jewelry is still missing.
The woman, arrested on Wednesday in the Paris area along with four other suspects, was charged with complicity in organized theft and conspiracy to commit a crime and was detained at the request of the Paris Prosecutor's Office.
However, the second suspect was released from custody on Friday without charge, his lawyers told AFP today.
The Paris prosecutor's office announced today that several suspects in the investigation into the spectacular robbery that stole jewelry valued at 88 million euros will be questioned by a judge during the day.
Among the suspects arrested on Wednesday was a suspected gang member who carried out the robbery on October 19 in less than eight minutes, Paris prosecutor Laura Becchio said on Thursday.
She added that DNA traces linked him to the robbery.
The other arrested individuals "may be able to provide us with information about how these events unfolded," the prosecutor said.
On Tuesday, October 25, two men in their thirties were arrested, suspected of being part of the gang that carried out the robbery.
One of the two, arrested at the Paris airport, was preparing to travel to Algeria.
The two men, aged 34 and 39, were formally charged and remanded in custody on Wednesday evening.
The prosecutor emphasized her determination, as well as the determination of the hundreds of investigators involved, to recover the stolen jewelry and catch all the perpetrators.
However, she admitted on Thursday that the stolen jewelry has still not been found.
The prosecutor said that "a number of parallel markets" are being investigated because it is unlikely that the stolen items will appear on the legal art market.
The case has sparked extensive debate and commentary regarding the security of the Louvre, the most visited art museum in the world.
French Culture Minister Rachida Dati revealed the initial findings of an administrative investigation into museum security on Friday, giving a highly critical assessment.
She pointed to a "chronic, structural underestimation of the risk of break-ins and theft" at the Louvre, "insufficient security equipment, inadequate management and completely outdated" protocols for responding to thefts and break-ins.
On the day of the robbery, four perpetrators managed to park a truck crane at the foot of the museum, and two of them used it to climb to the upstairs gallery that housed the French Crown Jewels.
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