PARIS – In a significant development in the case of the stolen crown jewels from the Louvre Museum, French authorities have arrested five more individuals. However, the whereabouts of the missing treasures remain unknown, according to an announcement by the Paris prosecutor on Thursday.

The arrests were made late Wednesday night during coordinated police operations in Paris and nearby areas, including the Seine-Saint-Denis region, Prosecutor Laure Beccuau shared with RTL radio. The identities of those detained have not been disclosed, nor have specific details surrounding the arrests.

Among those apprehended is an individual believed to have been involved in the daring heist at the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery on October 19. This suspect is part of a four-person team accused of executing the robbery in broad daylight. Earlier, two members of this group were detained on Sunday and faced preliminary charges of criminal conspiracy and organized theft by Wednesday. Both individuals have partially confessed to their roles in the crime, according to Beccuau.

Prosecutor Beccuau noted, “Searches conducted last night and into the early hours did not lead to the recovery of the stolen items.”

The robbery, which took less than eight minutes, left the world astonished. The thieves managed to bypass security by forcing open a window, using power tools to breach display cases, and making off with eight pieces of the French crown jewels, valued at an estimated 88 million euros ($102 million).

One of those who has been charged is a 34-year-old Algerian national who has been living in France since 2010, Beccuau said. He was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to fly to Algeria with no return ticket. He was living in a suburb north of Paris, Aubervilliers, and was known to police mostly for road traffic offenses. His DNA was found on one of the scooters used by robbers to leave the scene, she said.

The other suspect, 39, was arrested at his home in Aubervilliers. 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.

Video surveillance cameras showed there were at least four criminals involved, Beccuau said.

The four suspected robbers arrived onboard a truck equipped with a freight lift that two of them used to climb up to the museum’s window. The four of them left onboard two motor scooters along the Seine River toward eastern Paris, where they had some other vehicles parked, she detailed.

Beccuau said nothing suggests that the robbers had any accomplices within the museum’s staff.

She made a plea Wednesday night to those who have the jewels: “These jewels are now, of course, unsellable … Anyone who buys them would be guilty of concealment of stolen goods. There’s still time to give them back.”

French police have acknowledged major gaps in the Louvre’s defenses — turning the dazzling daylight theft into a national reckoning over how France protects its treasures.