Louvre heist: Hunt on for remaining thieves after suspects arrested by French police

PARIS — The hunt was on Monday for the thieves still on the run after the first suspects in the Louvre heist were arrested by French police.

Two suspects with a history of jewel thefts had been tracked for days after their DNA was recovered from the museum and were arrested Saturday shortly before one of them was set to board a flight out of the country, a police official told NBC News.

The breakthrough came a week after the robbers broke into the Galerie d’Apollon , threatening guards and drilling into display cases before escaping on scooters with eight of France’s crown jewels worth an estimated $102 million.

A major police operation has been underway to track down the thieves, who were captured on camera fleeing the scene . But there was still no sign of the jewels themselves.