On Sunday, October 19, one of the most daring heists of the century was pulled off when a team of four men disguised as construction workers made away with Napoleonic jewels estimated at $102 million — all in 7 minutes!

This bold act has since caused a lot of outrage on social media and forced comments from the French government. The French President Emmanuel Macron called it “an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history.” He vowed to “recover the works and the perpetrators will be brought to justice,” adding that “everything is being done, everywhere, to achieve this.”

Following days of intense investigation, the French police made a couple of arrests in relation to the heists.

THE ARREST

Following investigations, the French police, last weekend made two arrests in relation to the Louvre heist that got everyone talking. The Paris public prosecutor confirmed media reports on Sunday that one man had been detained at about 10 p.m. local time on Saturday at the capital’s Charles de Gaulle airport by officers from the armed robberies and serious burglaries squad.

However, the prosecutor, Laure Beccuau did not say how many arrests have been made nor whether any jewels had been recovered, but officials close to the investigation confirmed to French media that a second suspect had also been taken into custody in the Paris region.

Beccuau said she regretted such information getting to the public describing it as a premature revelation of the arrests that "could jeopardise the work of more than 100 investigators mobilised to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators”.

Beccuau believed that the release of such news could trigger the remaining culprits to make reckless or desperate moves which might involve them breaking apart the jewels and selling them in parts — an action the French government fears would destroy them.

Beccuau said it was too early to give further details but she would say more once the suspects’ pre-charge custody period was over. Under French law, people suspected of committing serious crimes can be detained for up to 96 hours before being charged.

As reported by multiple French outlets, the first culprit who happens to be both Algerian and French nationality was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport 40 minutes before the flight was due to take of to Algeria. The Second culprit, a French man was arrested at roughly the same time in the Seine-Saint-Denis department near Paris, from where he intended to travel to Mali.

Both suspects were reportedly in their 30s, known to police and had criminal records for robbery. Le Monde said they had been under observation “for some time” before being taken into custody on suspicion of “organised theft and criminal conspiracy”.

Citing police sources, France Inter public radio reported that the pair were from Seine-Saint-Denis, north-east of Paris, which has the highest poverty and crime rates in mainland France, according to the national statistics office.

According to the Police, the DNA samples found at the crime scene helped identify the suspects. Apparently, they left pieces of evidence that could be traced back to them.

"They left gloves, a walkie-talkie, a vest and a can of gasoline," Axel Ronde, spokesman for the French police union CFTC, said in an interview Monday. "And that allowed my colleagues from the forensic team to find these DNA traces," he added.

Beccuau said on Friday that more than 150 DNA samples, fingerprints and other traces on objects found at the scene were being analysed in forensic laboratories and that she was “optimistic” about the investigation’s outcome.

"I think there is going to be more arrests quickly," said Robert Wittman, a former FBI art crime investigator.

He added that the arrest of the first suspects would allow police to gather more evidence through searches of their homes and cellphone data.

FURTHER INVESTIGATIONS AND DISCUSSIONS

While the arrests of these two culprits might be seen as a breakthrough, the French government still has a lot to worry about. One being the fact that neither of the arrested culprits were in possession of any of the Jewels maybe as a split or something, this implied that though, they might have caught some of the culprits, a huge risk still stands as the diamonds could be destroyed in a bid to probably sell off quickly.

Nuñez expressed his “concern for the jewellery” in an interview with the French weekly La Tribune Dimanche on Sunday, saying the heist appeared to have been carried out by an organised crime group but adding that “thieves are always eventually caught”.

The interior minister said there was a risk the jewellery would be broken up, with its precious metal settings melted down and the gems sold separately. “The loot is unfortunately often stashed abroad. I hope that’s not the case – I remain confident,” he added.

While the risk of these jewels being dismantled or melted down stands, Wittman still holds some kind of hope that the stolen artifacts can be recovered intact.

Wittman said the thieves may have good reason to preserve the jewels rather than destroy them right away.

In places like France, and Europe, they can use those to get out of jail free," he said, adding that destroying the jewels would leave the thieves with no "bargaining tools" if they were arrested.

Following further investigations, the Louvre Director has come out to acknowledge that there might actually be some unforeseen errors in their €80m security programme. She admitted there was “highly insufficient” security camera coverage of the outside walls of the vast building.

Senators questioned Laurence Des Cars, trying to ascertain how it was possible for four men to use a truck with extendable ladder and furniture hoist to access a balcony, cut through a window and steal jewels from the ornate Apollo gallery during opening hours.

Des Cars, speaking publicly for the first time since the break-in, said: “Despite our efforts, despite our hard work on a daily basis, we failed.”

She said all alarms had functioned during the burglary, but admitted that security cameras did not adequately cover the thieves’ point of entry. “The only camera installed is directed westward and therefore did not cover the balcony involved in the break-in,” she said.

Questions were also raised to understand how it was possible for that truck to have parked in the wrong direction of traffic on a pavement right up against the wall of museum for two hours, on a busy main road near the Seine River, in what would have required a U-turn and been a parking offence.

Des Cars in response, went over the events of the robbery and explained that the culprits had put out bollards on the pavement as if they were carrying out maintenance work. But as soon as they broke a window, the security alarm was triggered and each protocol was followed.

But the thieves exited the museum within minutes. Des Cars said private contractor security guards outside the museum who heard the alerts on their radio system ran around to the van and managed to prevent the robbers setting fire to it before they fled and this action helped preserve valuable evidence at the scene.

Ultimately, the apprehension of these culprits and the repossession of France priceless jewels will depend on how far the evidence generated as well as the arrests made can take them.