Six Arrested Following 12 Million Euro Armed Raid on Precious Metals Facility in the French Republic

A team of six suspects equipped with assault rifles and handguns employed explosives to break into a gold refining laboratory located in the city of Lyon, slightly injuring five staff members during what is being called the most recent prominent daylight theft to hit France.

The audacious robbery took place on Thursday late morning, with police forces quickly arresting the individuals believed responsible and retrieving the loot estimated to be worth €12 million (£10.5M), officials reported.

Five employees of the gold refining company were slightly hurt from the blast, and three of them were taken to a medical facility for evaluation, according to regional authorities. Twenty-eight workers were present on-site when the robbers attacked.

Those arrested, considered career criminals, were arrested a brief time later in the neighboring community of Vénissieux, a source close to the investigation stated.

A female participant who participated in the heist was taken into custody as well, officers confirmed.

“Six people who used detonations in an assault targeting a precious metals company in the Lyon area were apprehended red-handed,” the French interior minister announced via X, lauding police for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.

High-caliber firearms, handguns and detonation devices were likewise seized.

The robbery occurred as authorities on the same day detained five further people, including a primary suspect, in relation to the recent audacious theft at the Louvre.

Numerous detectives have been searching for four perpetrators who utilized a lorry equipped with a moving lift and cutting equipment to breach a first-floor gallery at the museum on 19 October, making off with ornaments assessed at around €88M.

In a different significant robbery, burglars recently forced their way into the French capital's Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples worth over $1 million. A young Chinese female was apprehended in the current month in Barcelona, Spain in relation to the burglary, according to legal authorities.

The sequence of heists has raised concerns in France regarding lax security at museums and various establishments containing precious artifacts.