Paris pickpockets who target Asian tourists arrested

French police have arrested a gang of pickpockets who dressed like tourists in order to target visitors - mostly Asian tourists - to Paris' most famous museums and monuments.

The group was sophisticated, dangling cameras from their necks to blend in, always buying entry tickets and slipping away unnoticed.

They operated at the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, the Eiffel Tower and the Chateau de Versailles, bringing in as much as €2,000 (HK$20,500) per day by grabbing the wallets of tourists, according to Commissioner Stephane Gouaud.

He said a group of fewer than 10 people was arrested on Tuesday after a weeks-long investigation. But he warned that other pickpockets are still at large.

Petty theft, long a concern in Paris, has plagued the city in recent months. Workers at the Louvre went on strike in the spring to protest an increase in thefts.

The situation prompted the Paris police to publish a brochure in six languages warning tourists about how to avoid such thefts.