Two Louvre heist suspects a couple with children

PARIS

Small-time criminals are believed to be behind the spectacular jewel heist at the Louvre, the top Paris prosecutor said on Nov. 2, adding that two of the suspects are a couple with children.

Two men suspected of being the pair who broke into the gallery while their two accomplices waited outside have been detained, charged and remanded in custody.

Prosecutors said on Nov. 1 that two more suspects, a man and a woman, had also been charged and remanded in custody.

On Nov. 2, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said that the suspects, who lived in the French capital's northern suburbs, were believed to be small-time criminals and not members of organized crime groups.

Their profiles do not correspond to those "generally associated with the upper echelons of organized crime," Beccuau told France Info. At least one other person is still being sought, she added.

Beccuau said that the 37-year-old man and 38-year-old woman charged on Nov. 1 were a couple and had children together.

They have "denied any involvement," Beccuau said, adding that the man refused to make any statement.

The suspects are "clearly local people," she said. "They all lived more or less in Seine-Saint-Denis," the prosecutor said, referring to a region north of Paris. "Some are connected, particularly the couple," she said.

Two of the male suspects were convicted in a theft case together in 2015, she added.

The 37-year-old man has been charged with organized theft and criminal conspiracy, while his partner has been charged with complicity in organized theft and criminal conspiracy.

The woman was in tears as she appeared at a Paris court on Saturday, saying she feared for her children and for herself.

The couple were arrested after their DNA was found in the basket lift used during the robbery.

"Significant" DNA evidence linking the man to the crime was found in the basket lift, the prosecutor said. Traces of his partner's DNA were also found, but they might have been transferred there through contact with a person or object, she added.

The search for the jewels is continuing, the prosecutor said.

"All avenues are being explored," she said, adding the treasures "could be used for money laundering.”

“We are examining all the possibilities offered by the black market for selling this jewelry, which I hope will not happen any time soon."