In brief
In a recent development surrounding the high-profile jewelry heist at the Louvre museum, Paris's prosecutor mentioned that the crime was orchestrated not by sophisticated organized networks but by local individuals. The stolen jewels, valued at €88 million, were taken during a swift operation that lasted only four minutes. Four suspects have been apprehended, and heightened security measures have been implemented in cultural institutions across France.
Last month's jewellery heist at the Louvre museum was carried out by petty criminals rather than organized crime professionals, Paris's prosecutor has said.
This is not quite everyday delinquency... but it is a type of delinquency that we do not generally associate with the upper echelons of organised crime, Laure Beccuau told franceinfo radio.
She said four people arrested and charged so far over the theft that shocked France and the world were clearly local people living in Seine-Saint-Denis, an impoverished area just north of Paris.
Jewels worth €88m (£76m; $102m) were taken from the most-visited museum in the French capital, on 19 October.
In Sunday's interview to franceinfo radio, Beccuau said the four arrested people - three men and a woman - all live more or less in Seine-Saint-Denis.
She said two of the male suspects had been known to the police, as they each had multiple theft convictions.
On Saturday, a 38-year-old woman was charged with complicity in organized theft and criminal conspiracy regarding the heist.
Two men who had previously been arrested were already charged with theft and criminal conspiracy after officials said they had partially recognized their involvement in the heist. Investigators believe four men carried out the daylight theft, and one of them is still on the run.
On the day of the heist, the suspects used a stolen, vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to access the gallery where the jewels were displayed. Prosecutors stated they took just four minutes to steal the items.
One of the stolen pearls was dropped in their escape, while the rest are feared to have been shipped abroad. The incident has prompted heightened security measures around France's cultural institutions, with some of the Louvre's most precious jewels transferred to the Bank of France.
