Theft from the Louvre: the investigation is progressing quickly

A week after the spectacular burglary at the Louvre Museum which occurred on October 19, 2025 in the Apollon Gallery, the investigation marks a turning point. Two men, both in their thirties, were arrested on Saturday October 25: one at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport while trying to leave France for Algeria, the other in Seine-Saint-Denis, in the Paris region. According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, one of the arrested is of French nationality, the other Franco-Algerian; both were already on organized crime files for sophisticated thefts.

The arrests were made possible thanks to DNA traces and prints found on equipment abandoned at the scene – a helmet, gloves, a yellow vest and a truck equipped with an aerial platform. The two individuals taken into custody present a profile typical of high-level crimes: specialized in rapid, organized thefts of valuable objects, they were already known to the police.

One of the authorities’ main concerns is that the stolen jewels, from the historic collections of the French Crown, be dismantled. According to international experts, the more time passes, the greater the risk that parts will be dismantled, stones extracted, metal melted or elements dispersed on black markets.

Once the stones are separated from their original setting, their traceability becomes extremely complex. A diamond ring can be created from a diamond from one of the sets at cutting or setting centers overseas. Gold or platinum settings can be remelted, erasing any distinctive features. In this case, even if the thieves are caught, recovering the item in its original form becomes virtually impossible.

And the precedent of the theft on the night of December 15 to 16, 1976, of Charles X’s ceremonial sword which was also stolen from the Apollo Gallery is not comforting. This weapon, richly decorated with diamonds, has not been found to date.

More than 100 investigators are involved in this major case. The next few days will be decisive: use of surveillance videos, DNA analyses, surveillance of relatives of the two arrested, mobilization of police informers, etc.