Six Suspects Apprehended After 12 Million Euro Armed Raid on Gold Refining Lab in France

Six armed perpetrators equipped with high-powered firearms used explosive devices to breach the security of a precious metals processing plant located in Lyon, slightly injuring five workers during what is being called the latest high-profile daytime heist to occur in France.

The daring raid occurred on Thursday afternoon, with officers quickly arresting the suspected perpetrators and recovering the stolen goods estimated to be worth €12M (£10.5M), as stated by authorities.

Five workers of the gold refining company received light wounds from the blast, and three individuals required hospital checks for examination, the regional prefecture announced. A total of twenty-eight staff were present on-site when the thieves struck.

Those arrested, believed to be experienced criminals, were detained a brief time later in the adjacent municipality of Vénissieux, according to investigative sources.

A female accomplice involved in the raid was taken into custody as well, a police source indicated.

“Six suspects who used detonations in an assault targeting a metals processing plant in Lyon, France 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 recovered as well.

The raid happened as authorities on Thursday arrested five more suspects, featuring a main perpetrator, in connection with this month's brazen raid on the Louvre museum.

Dozens of investigators have been searching for four perpetrators who used a vehicle with a hydraulic lift and cutting gear to breach a first-floor gallery at the museum on October 19th, escaping with precious items estimated to be worth €88 million.

In a different significant robbery, robbers the previous month broke into the French capital's Natural History Museum, stealing gold samples worth over $1 million. A woman from China, aged 24 was taken into custody recently in the city of Barcelona in connection with the break-in, according to legal authorities.

The sequence of heists has generated apprehension in the nation regarding inadequate security measures at museums and various establishments holding high-value objects.