French police make more arrests in Louvre heist investigation

Police have arrested five more suspects linked to the theft of treasures worth $102 million from the Louvre museum's Apollo gallery, the Paris prosecutor said on Thursday, expressing hope the latest developments will help them find the jewels.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau told radio station RTL the suspects, one of whom was identified through DNA traces left at the crime scene, had been arrested in coordinated raids in different parts of the capital on Wednesday evening.

Shortly before the latest arrests were made, Beccuau revealed that two other men detained over the weekend in connection with the heist had "partially admitted" their involvement in the robbery. One of the pair had been trying to fly out of France when detained.

"At that point, we obviously had to speed up the arrest operations," Beccuau told RTL.

She said the jewels were still missing, but expressed optimism those arrested might be able to provide more information about the sequence of events.

The heist exposed security lapses at the world's most-visited museum and was seen by many as a cause for national humiliation.

Four people carried out the robbery, but Beccuau has said she did not rule out the possible involvement of a wider network, including a person who could have ordered the theft and been the mastermind behind it.