Six Arrested Following €12M Heist on Gold Processing Laboratory in the French Republic

A team of six suspects using assault rifles and handguns detonated charges to break into a precious metals processing plant located in Lyon, causing light wounds to five staff members during what appears to be the newest significant broad daylight robbery to affect the country.

The daring raid was carried out on the afternoon of Thursday, with police forces quickly arresting the individuals believed responsible and retrieving the loot estimated to be worth 12 million euros (10.5 million pounds), officials reported.

Five staff members of the gold refining company sustained minor injuries from the blast, and three employees required hospital checks for evaluation, according to regional authorities. A total of twenty-eight staff were at the location when the thieves struck.

The suspects, considered seasoned offenders, were detained soon afterwards in the adjacent municipality of Vénissieux, authorities revealed.

A female accomplice involved in the robbery was likewise arrested, officers confirmed.

“Six people who used detonations in an assault targeting a precious metals company in Lyon were arrested at the scene,” the French interior minister announced via X, commending law enforcement for their “quick action, authority and management”.

Military-style weapons, pistols and explosive materials were also confiscated.

The robbery occurred as authorities on Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, including a primary suspect, in regarding the bold raid on the Louvre museum.

Numerous detectives have been hunting four robbers who employed a truck featuring an elevating platform and cutting gear to breach a first-floor gallery at the museum on October 19th, escaping with ornaments assessed at around 88 million euros.

In a separate high-profile case, thieves last month entered illegally the French capital's Natural History Museum, stealing gold samples worth over $1 million. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona, Spain in relation to the burglary, officials confirmed.

The string of thefts has raised concerns in the country regarding inadequate security measures at museums and other institutions housing valuable items.