PARIS — French police arrested at least 16 people Monday in connection with the October theft of more than $10 million worth of jewelry from Kim Kardashian West, finding weapons and a large amount of cash during multiple raids.

Paris police said the arrests took place starting around 6 a.m. in the Paris region and the south of France. The suspects were already known for prior robberies and other crimes, according to one official. Multiple firearms, including an automatic pistol, and $147,500 in cash were found during the raids, officials said.

The suspects can be held for up to 96 hours before police must either charge them or let them go.

Jean Veil, the French lawyer for Kardashian West, called news of the arrests “a great satisfaction.”

“These arrests are a nice surprise because we might be able to find the jewels,” he told the French magazine L’Express Monday.

Veil said his client could be interviewed again by investigators and might have to face the suspects.

On Oct. 3, robbers forced their way into the private Paris residence where Kardashian West was staying, tied her up, held her at gunpoint and then locked her in a bathroom before making off with her jewelry. The reality TV star was in Paris attending fashion week shows.

Media reports said police tracked down the suspects through DNA evidence found at the residence.

Earlier this month, the starlet broke her silence on the robbery in a teaser for the family’s reality show, telling two of her sisters her thoughts at the time: “They’re going to shoot me in the back. There’s no way out.”

Police said the thieves stole a jewelry box containing valuables worth $6.7 million as well as a ring worth $4.5 million.

Paris police and the prosecutor’s office previously said five people directly took part in the robbery, including two who forced their way into the apartment.

Police analyzed footage from surveillance cameras to try to identify the assailants, who wore fake police emblems on their jackets.

At the time, a spokeswoman for Kardashian West said she was badly shaken but physically unharmed.

The robbery raised new concerns about security in the French capital after a string of deadly extremist attacks.

–From news service reports

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