AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
It was a scene straight out of a movie - four masked men entering the Louvre's Apollo Gallery and vanishing with priceless treasures. Now a week later, police say they've made arrests. Joining me on the line from Paris to discuss the latest is NPR's Rebecca Rosman. Hi, Rebecca.
REBECCA ROSMAN, BYLINE: Hi. Good morning.
RASCOE: So first, give us more details about how the robbery unfolded last week.
ROSMAN: Well, the details really are like something out of the latest "Ocean's" film. First thing to remember, this all happened about 30 minutes after the museum had opened, so there were visitors everywhere. Four masked men dressed as maintenance workers used a mechanical ladder mounted to a truck to hoist themselves up to a second-floor balcony, and that's where they broke into the Louvre's Apollo Gallery. Once they were inside, they moved really fast. Two of the thieves kept watch. The other two smashed into display cases, grabbing nine priceless heirlooms, including Imperial Era tiaras, brooches, necklaces and earrings. They then used that same ladder to make their gateway - getaway, hoisting themselves down and jumping onto scooters they had parked nearby, speeding off towards the nearest highway.
I should note that one of those stolen items - a diamond-and-gold-encrusted crown that belonged to Napoleon III's second wife - was dropped near the scene as the suspects were fleeing. And the whole thing took less than seven minutes. So officials say the precision and speed suggests that this was the work of true professionals - likely, an organized criminal network.
RASCOE: And now, this morning, we're hearing about arrests. What more do we know?
ROSMAN: To be completely honest, not much. The only reason we know anything about these arrests actually is because they were leaked to the French newspaper Le Parisien, which forced the Paris prosecutor's office to release a statement this morning. Le Parisien had reported two arrests. The prosecutor's office did confirm that arrests had been made overnight, though they wouldn't say how many.
We know that at least one man was arrested at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris yesterday evening as he was trying to leave the country, and that's pretty much all we know for sure. The Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said she, quote, "regretted the hasty disclosure of this information," adding it had hindered the ongoing investigation.
RASCOE: Do we have any word yet on the stolen items themselves? Have any of them been recovered?
ROSMAN: No, nothing so far about the missing items. Authorities haven't said where they might be or whether these arrests led to any kind of recovery. What I've been hearing just from speaking to analysts this week is that time is really critical here. If the thieves were planning to sell them, they wouldn't be able to keep them intact. You know, that would make it far too easy to trace these items. So the thinking is they've probably already melted down the gold and silver, removed the gemstones to sell them off separately. Altogether, these pieces are worth more than $100 million, but officials have been calling them priceless because of their connection to France's imperial history. We're talking about heirlooms that date back centuries.
RASCOE: So what's the reaction there in France? The Louvre, in particular, has come under intense scrutiny. What are people saying?
ROSMAN: Well, I would say that first there was a lot of shock that's now turned into anger here and, in particular, growing scrutiny over the museum's security. If we go back to the morning of the heist, the Louvre's director admitted before the French senate this week that the alarms did go off as they should've once the thieves broke in, but it took too long for security to actually detect and respond.
There's also been sharp criticism over lack of surveillance cameras. Some wings, including the Apollo Gallery, just don't seem to have enough coverage. In fact, there was no camera overlooking the second-floor balcony where the thieves entered, something investigators say the group almost certainly knew ahead of time.
So all this has forced the museum's director to concede that the heist was, quote, "not inevitable." But I have to say, despite the anger, there's also been a bit of humor. Memes about the heist have taken over social media. Even the company behind the mechanical lift the thieves used seized the moment, so to speak, in their latest ad campaign. They posted a picture of said ladder with the slogan, if you're in a hurry.
RASCOE: That's NPR's Rebecca Rosman in Paris. Rebecca, thank you so much.
ROSMAN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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