It was a DNA trace that “unlocked” the investigation and led to the perpetrators of the Lubro robbery, resulting in the arrest of two of them on Saturday night.

According to BFMTV, citing a source close to the investigation, one of the two suspects was identified thanks to a “specific DNA trace” at the scene of the robbery.

From the moment the “robbery of the century” was completed, the forensic police meticulously explored the site and located every possible clue. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau had said on Thursday that “more than 150 samples of DNA, fingerprints and other traces” had been collected from the site.

Forensic police chief Perrine Rogiez-Thubert explained to BFMTV that investigators were working with either “rich” traces, such as blood, saliva or semen, or “poor” traces, meaning blind DNA contact traces on objects the suspect may have touched.

At the Louvre museum, the suspects left behind several items that could contain traces, including a helmet, a radio, a yellow vest and two metal cutting wheels.

In these cases, after DNA samples are collected, they are analyzed and processed in a laboratory. There, researchers obtain the genotype, or genetic profile of an individual.

The operation was expedited when one suspect tried to flee

As part of the DNA analysis, one of the two suspects was identified and subsequently arrested. The two men who were arrested are both in their 30s and both hail from Oberville. Their exact role in the robbery is not yet known, but they are considered “prime suspects.”

Oberville is a northern suburb of Paris and is part of the Saint-Saint-Denis department. The area is densely populated, with workers, immigrants, but also young artists and students.

One of the two suspects, who, according to the French newspaper Le Monde, has French and Algerian nationality, was arrested at the airport Roissy-Charles de Gaulle as he was preparing to leave for Algeria. The other arrested man has French nationality.

Police officers were already on the suspects’ side in the hope of tracking down their prey and accomplices. However, the operation was accelerated when they realized that one of the two was planning to flee. As a result, the jewellery remains missing.