Six Individuals Detained Following €12 Million Armed Raid on Precious Metals Facility in France

A group of six individuals using 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 workers during what is being called the newest significant daylight theft to affect France.

The bold operation occurred on Thursday afternoon, with officers quickly arresting the individuals believed responsible and retrieving the loot assessed at around 12 million euros (£10.5M), according to officials.

Five staff members of the gold refining company received light wounds due to the explosion, and three employees were transported to hospital for evaluation, the regional prefecture announced. Twenty-eight employees were at the location when the robbers attacked.

The suspects, believed to be experienced criminals, were arrested soon afterwards in the nearby town of Vénissieux, France, authorities revealed.

A female participant who took part in the heist was likewise arrested, a police source indicated.

“Six individuals who employed explosive devices in an attack on a precious metals company in Lyon were caught in the act,” the French interior minister announced via X, lauding police for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were likewise seized.

The robbery occurred as authorities on the same day detained five further people, featuring a main perpetrator, in regarding the recent audacious theft at the Louvre.

Many investigative personnel have been pursuing four thieves who employed a truck with a hydraulic lift and cutting gear to access a gallery on the first floor at the museum on October 19th, fleeing with precious items estimated to be worth €88 million.

In another notable incident, robbers the previous month forced their way into the French capital's Natural History Museum, taking gold specimens estimated at exceeding $1M. A woman from China, aged 24 was taken into custody recently in Barcelona in regarding the theft, according to legal authorities.

The sequence of heists has generated apprehension in the nation regarding insufficient protection at cultural venues and other facilities housing valuable items.