Six Arrested After €12M Robbery on Precious Metals Facility in the French Republic

Six armed perpetrators equipped with assault rifles and handguns used explosive devices to breach the security of a gold refining laboratory located in the city of Lyon, causing light wounds to five staff members during what appears to be the newest significant daytime heist to affect France.

The daring raid occurred on Thursday afternoon, with officers swiftly apprehending the individuals believed responsible and retrieving the loot estimated to be worth €12 million (10.5 million pounds), officials reported.

Five workers of the precious metals facility were slightly hurt as a result of the detonation, and three of them required hospital checks for evaluation, according to regional authorities. Twenty-eight workers were present on-site when the perpetrators raided.

The suspects, considered seasoned offenders, were detained shortly after the incident in the neighboring community of Vénissieux, France, according to investigative sources.

A woman involved who took part in the robbery was also apprehended, a police source indicated.

“Six suspects who used detonations in a raid against a gold refining facility in Lyon were arrested at the scene,” the nation's interior minister announced via X, lauding police for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.

Military-style weapons, pistols and explosive materials were likewise seized.

The robbery occurred as authorities on the same day arrested five more suspects, among them a key figure, in connection with this month's brazen Louvre museum robbery.

Dozens of investigators have been hunting four perpetrators who utilized a lorry featuring an elevating platform and cutting tools to access a gallery on the first floor at the prestigious institution on 19 October, making off with jewelry valued at approximately €88 million.

In a different significant robbery, thieves last month broke into the Natural History Museum in Paris, stealing gold samples estimated at exceeding $1M. A young Chinese female was apprehended in the current month in Barcelona, Spain in relation to the burglary, according to legal authorities.

The string of thefts has raised concerns in France regarding insufficient protection at museums and other institutions housing valuable items.