<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two suspects in the Louvre jewel heist have "partially" admitted their participation and are believed to be the men who forced their way into the world's most visited museum, a Paris prosecutor says.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Laure Beccuau told a news conference that the two face preliminary charges of theft committed by an organised gang and criminal conspiracy, and are expected to be held in provisional detention. She did not give details about their comments.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It took thieves less than eight minutes to steal the jewels valued at €88 million euros ($135 million) on October 19, shocking the world. The thieves forced open a window, cut into cases with power tools and fled with eight pieces of the French crown jewels.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/hurricane-melissa-update-storm-hits-cuba-after-lashing-jamaica/ad94e02b-508d-4ca6-a3bc-636bea25ae99"><strong><span>Flood kills dozens as 'strongest ever' hurricane rages on</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One suspect is a 34-year-old Algerian national who has been living in France since 2010, Beccuau said on Wednesday afternoon (early Thursday AEDT. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was arrested on Saturday night (Sunday morning AEDT) at Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to fly to Algeria with no return ticket. He was living in Paris' northern suburb of Aubervilliers and was known to police mostly for road traffic offences, Beccuau said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The other suspect, 39, was arrested Saturday night at his home in Aubervilliers. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/louvre-heist-update-paris-prosecutor-says-two-suspects-partially-admit-their-participation/96f70418-0093-42e7-84f0-5294629a92a9" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There is no evidence to suggest that he was about to leave the country," Beccuau said. The man was known to police for several thefts, and his DNA was found on one of the glass cases where the jewels were displayed and on items the thieves left behind, she added.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prosecutors had faced a late Wednesday deadline to charge the suspects, release them or seek a judge's extension.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/victoria-cricket-player-in-critical-condition-after-incident-during-warm-up-ferntree-gully/c1dcd6ec-69cb-4810-a69c-d8fa5c427e08"><strong><span>Boy fighting for his life after cricket nets horror</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>The jewels are still missing</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The jewels have not been recovered, Beccuau said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These jewels are now, of course, unsellable ... Anyone who buys them would be guilty of concealment of stolen goods," she warned. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's still time to give them back."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Earlier on Wednesday, French police acknowledged major gaps in the Louvre's defences — turning the dazzling daylight theft into a national reckoning over how France protects its treasures.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Paris Police Chief Patrice Faure told Senate politicians that aging systems and slow-moving fixes left weak seams in the museum.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"A technological step has not been taken," he said, noting that parts of the video network are still analogue, producing lower-quality images that are slow to share in real time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/south-australia-police-nearly-60-people-arrested-major-sting-anon-devices/ac1527d5-e1a0-4630-b242-5a0b5444ac7b" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>Dozens charged and $26m seized during 'unprecedented' police sting</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A long-promised revamp — an €80 million ($141 million) project requiring roughly 60 kilometres of new cabling — "will not be finished before 2029–2030", he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Faure also disclosed that the Louvre's authorisation to operate its security cameras quietly expired in July and wasn't renewed — a paperwork lapse that some see as a symbol of broader negligence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The police chief said officers "arrived extremely fast" after the theft, but added the lag in response occurred earlier in the chain — from first detection, to museum security, to the emergency line, to police command.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Faure and his team said the first alert to police came not from the Louvre's alarms but from a cyclist outside who dialled the emergency line after seeing helmeted men with a basket lift.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>A lack of private insurance</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The theft also exposed an insurance blind spot: Officials say the jewels were not privately insured.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The French state self-insures its national museums, because premiums for covering priceless heritage are astronomically high — meaning the Louvre will receive no payout for the loss. The financial blow, like the cultural wound, is total.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Faure pushed back on quick fixes. He rejected calls for a permanent police post inside the palace-museum, warning it would set an unworkable precedent and do little against fast, mobile crews. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The issue is not a guard at a door; it is speeding the chain of alert," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He urged politicians to authorise tools currently off-limits: AI-based anomaly detection and object tracking (not facial recognition) to flag suspicious movements and follow scooters or gear across city cameras in real time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Former bank robber David Desclos has told the AP the theft was textbook and vulnerabilities were glaringly obvious in the layout of the gallery.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Museum and culture officials under pressure</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Culture Minister Rachida Dati, under pressure, has refused the Louvre director's resignation and insisted that alarms worked, while acknowledging "security gaps did exist". She has kept details to a minimum, citing ongoing investigations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The museum was already under strain. In June, the Louvre shut in a spontaneous staff strike — including security agents — over unmanageable crowds, chronic understaffing and "untenable" conditions. Unions say mass tourism and construction pinch points create blind spots, a vulnerability underscored by the thieves who rolled a basket lift to the Seine-facing façade.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Faure said police will now track surveillance-permit deadlines across institutions to prevent repeats of the July lapse. But he stressed the larger fix is disruptive and slow: ripping out and rebuilding core systems while the palace stays open, and updating the law so police can act on suspicious movement in real time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em></em><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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