French authorities have arrested two men in connection with the brazen daylight heist at the Louvre Museum last week, during which an estimated $102 million (£83 million) worth of precious jewels were stolen from the famed Parisian institution.

The arrests were confirmed by sources close to the case on Sunday, with the suspects now in police custody. One man was apprehended at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport on Saturday evening as he reportedly prepared to board a flight abroad. The second suspect was detained shortly afterwards in the Paris region. Both men are reported to be in their thirties, originally from the Parisian suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, and were known to police for previous burglary offences.

The spectacular robbery occurred on Sunday, October 19, when a crew of four thieves targeted the museum’s Galerie d’Apollon (Gallery of Apollo), which houses a substantial collection of the French Crown Jewels.

The gang executed a meticulously planned raid, arriving at approximately 09:30 local time, shortly after the museum had opened to the public. They used a stolen movers’ truck equipped with a vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to gain access to a first-floor balcony close to the River Seine. Two of the thieves then cut through a window with power tools to enter the gallery. They threatened museum guards, forcing an evacuation, and proceeded to smash glass display cases.

The robbers were inside the gallery for a reported four to seven minutes, making off with nine pieces of jewellery, including an emerald-and-diamond necklace once belonging to Empress Marie-Louise, the second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. They fled the scene on waiting scooters.

The unprecedented security breach at the world’s most-visited museum has prompted a national debate in France regarding the protection of its cultural heritage. France’s justice minister “has since conceded security protocols ‘failed’, leaving the country with a ‘terrible image’.” Compounding the concerns, a preliminary police report revealed that “one in three rooms in the area of the museum raided had no CCTV cameras.”

The specialist Paris Banditry Repression Brigade (BRB) is leading the investigation into the incident, which has been opened for “theft in an organised gang” and “association of criminals for the commission of a crime.”