PARIS: Suspects in the brazen daylight heist of some of France's crown jewels from the Louvre were arrested near Paris on Saturday (Oct 26) evening, the Paris prosecutor said, confirming an earlier report from newspaper Le Parisien.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on Sunday that one of the men was arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport north of Paris as he was about to leave the country. She did not say in her statement how many men were arrested or give more details.

Two sources close to the case also said on Sunday that French authorities detained two men suspected of being part of the four-man crew who stole precious jewellery from the world-famous Louvre museum last week.

One was apprehended around 10pm local time at the airport, the second was arrested not long after in the Paris region, according to reports.

Dozens of investigators had been tasked with tracking down the thieves who successfully robbed the Louvre in broad daylight on Oct 19, making off with royal jewels worth an estimated US$102 million in just seven minutes.

The robbers had clambered up the extendable ladder of a stolen movers' truck and, using cutting equipment, broke into a first-floor gallery.

They dropped a diamond- and emerald-studded crown as they fled down the ladder and onto scooters, but managed to steal eight other pieces, including an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon Bonaparte gave his wife, Empress Marie-Louise.