Paintings taken in Sao Paulo heist recovered

Paintings by Pablo Picasso and Candido Portinari stolen from a Sao Paulo museum two weeks ago were recovered in perfect condition on Wednesday.

Brazilian police say they have two suspects in custody, but continue to investigate the robbery.

The paintings Picasso's Portrait of Suzanne Bloch and Brazilian artist Portinari's O Lavrador de Cafe (The Coffee Worker) were taken in a lightning-fast theft from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art on Dec. 20.

One thief watched a loading-area door, and two others were in and out of the museum with the paintings within four minutes, timing their heist for a period when guards were changing shift.

Police say a suspect led them to a house on the outskirts of Sao Paulo where they recovered the paintings.

The works, valued at $56 million, had been wrapped in plastic and were "in absolutely perfect condition," according to curators.

A helicopter and more than a dozen police vehicles escorted the small truck carrying the works back to the museum, where employees and onlookers applauded at the recovery.

The museum planned to have the paintings back on its walls by Friday.

Security inside and outside the museum has been improved since the robbery, museum officials said.

Police are still investigating to determine who was the mastermind behind the heist.

"It's obvious the two did not steal the paintings for themselves," chief policeInsp. Mauricio Lemos Freire said. "They did it for someone else. The focus of the investigation now is to find out for whom."

Brazilian press are reporting that the museum received two ransom notes for the paintings, but police would not confirm the reports.