Six Arrested After 12 Million Euro Heist on Gold Processing Laboratory in the French Republic

Six armed perpetrators equipped with assault rifles and handguns used explosive devices to force entry into a precious metals processing plant located in Lyon, slightly injuring five workers during described as the newest significant daytime heist to hit the country.

The bold operation took place on Thursday afternoon, with officers quickly arresting the individuals believed responsible and retrieving the loot estimated to be worth 12 million euros (£10.5 million), officials reported.

Five employees of the precious metals facility were slightly hurt due to the explosion, and three employees were taken to a medical facility for assessment, officials confirmed. Twenty-eight workers were inside the facility when the perpetrators raided.

The suspects, thought to be experienced criminals, were taken into custody soon afterwards in the adjacent municipality of Vénissieux, according to investigative sources.

A female participant involved in the heist was also apprehended, according to law enforcement.

“Six individuals who utilized explosives in an assault targeting a precious metals company in the Lyon area were caught in the act,” the French interior minister stated online, praising officers for their “quick action, authority and management”.

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

The raid happened as authorities on that Thursday arrested five more suspects, featuring a main perpetrator, in relation to the bold raid on the Louvre museum.

Numerous detectives have been pursuing four perpetrators who utilized a lorry with a hydraulic lift and cutting equipment to access a gallery on the first floor at the museum on 19 October, fleeing with precious items estimated to be worth €88M.

In a separate high-profile case, robbers the previous month broke into the Natural History Museum in Paris, stealing gold samples worth over $1 million. A young Chinese female was taken into custody recently in Barcelona, Spain in regarding the theft, prosecutors stated.

This series of robberies has generated apprehension in France regarding insufficient protection at cultural venues and other facilities containing precious artifacts.