Six Arrested After 12 Million Euro Robbery on Precious Metals Facility in France

A group of six individuals equipped with military-grade weapons detonated charges to force entry into a gold refining laboratory located in Lyon, resulting in minor injuries to five staff members during described as the most recent prominent daytime heist to hit France.

The audacious robbery occurred on Thursday late morning, with law enforcement authorities swiftly apprehending the suspected perpetrators and securing the stolen items estimated to be worth €12 million (£10.5M), officials reported.

Five staff members of Laboratoires Pourquery received light wounds as a result of the detonation, and three employees required hospital checks for assessment, the regional prefecture announced. A total of twenty-eight staff were at the location when the perpetrators raided.

The individuals, considered seasoned offenders, were taken into custody a brief time later in the nearby town of Vénissieux, a source close to the investigation stated.

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

“Six people who employed explosive devices in a raid against a gold refining facility in the Lyon area were arrested at the scene,” the nation's interior minister declared on social media, commending law enforcement for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were also confiscated.

The raid happened as authorities on that Thursday detained five further people, including a primary suspect, in connection with the bold raid on the Louvre museum.

Numerous detectives have been hunting four thieves who employed a truck featuring an elevating platform and cutting equipment to access a gallery on the first floor at the museum on October 19th, making off with precious items estimated to be worth 88 million euros.

In another notable incident, thieves last month entered illegally the Natural History Museum in Paris, taking gold specimens estimated at exceeding $1M. A woman from China, aged 24 was taken into custody recently in Barcelona in connection with the break-in, officials confirmed.

The string of thefts has sparked worry in the country regarding insufficient protection at cultural venues and other facilities containing precious artifacts.