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

A team of six suspects using assault rifles and handguns used explosive devices to break into a gold refining laboratory located in the city of Lyon, slightly injuring five workers during what is being called the newest significant daytime heist to hit the country.

The bold operation was carried out on Thursday late morning, with law enforcement authorities rapidly detaining the alleged criminals and securing the stolen items estimated to be worth €12M (£10.5 million), according to officials.

Five staff members of the gold refining company received light wounds due to the explosion, and three employees were taken to a medical facility for examination, the regional prefecture announced. A total of twenty-eight staff were present on-site when the perpetrators raided.

Those arrested, considered seasoned offenders, were arrested a brief time later in the neighboring community of Vénissieux, a source close to the investigation stated.

A woman involved who took part in the raid was also apprehended, officers confirmed.

“Six people who used detonations in an assault targeting a precious metals company in Lyon, France were caught in the act,” the French interior minister declared on social media, commending law enforcement for their “quick action, authority and management”.

High-caliber firearms, handguns and detonation devices were recovered as well.

The robbery occurred as French police on the same day detained five further people, including a primary suspect, in connection with the recent audacious Louvre museum robbery.

Numerous detectives have been hunting four perpetrators who employed a truck with a hydraulic lift and cutting gear to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the renowned museum on 19 October, escaping with precious items estimated to be worth 88 million euros.

In a separate high-profile case, burglars recently entered illegally the French capital's Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples valued at more than one million dollars. A woman from China, aged 24 was apprehended in the current month in Barcelona in regarding the theft, prosecutors stated.

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