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

Six armed perpetrators using military-grade weapons used explosive devices to force entry into a precious metals processing plant located in Lyon, resulting in minor injuries to five workers during what is being called the newest significant broad daylight robbery to hit France.

The daring raid occurred on the afternoon of Thursday, with officers rapidly detaining the individuals believed responsible and recovering the stolen goods estimated to be worth €12 million (£10.5 million), as stated by authorities.

Five workers of Laboratoires Pourquery received light wounds due to the explosion, and three of them were taken to a medical facility for examination, according to regional authorities. A total of twenty-eight staff were at the location when the robbers attacked.

Those arrested, thought to be career criminals, were detained soon afterwards in the neighboring community of Vénissieux, according to investigative sources.

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

“Six people who used detonations in an attack on a gold refining facility in the Lyon area were apprehended red-handed,” the nation's interior minister announced via X, commending law enforcement for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.

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

The heist took place as law enforcement in France on the same day arrested five more suspects, including a primary suspect, in connection with this month's brazen Louvre museum robbery.

Dozens of investigators have been hunting four robbers who employed a truck with a hydraulic lift and cutting gear to breach a first-floor gallery at the prestigious institution on the nineteenth of October, making off with precious items estimated to be worth €88 million.

In another notable incident, thieves last month forced their way into the French capital's Natural History Museum, stealing gold samples estimated at exceeding $1M. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was taken into custody recently in Barcelona in regarding the theft, officials confirmed.

This series of robberies has raised concerns in the country regarding lax security at museums and other institutions containing precious artifacts.