Six Arrested After €12 Million Robbery on Gold Processing Laboratory in the French Republic

A team of six suspects carrying military-grade weapons employed explosives to force entry into a gold treatment facility located in the city of Lyon, causing light wounds to five staff members during described as the newest significant daylight theft to hit France.

The bold operation was carried out on the afternoon of Thursday, with officers rapidly detaining the individuals believed responsible and retrieving the loot estimated to be worth 12 million euros (£10.5 million), according to officials.

Five workers of the gold refining company sustained minor injuries from the blast, and three individuals were taken to a medical facility for evaluation, the regional prefecture announced. A total of twenty-eight staff were inside the facility when the thieves struck.

Those arrested, believed to be experienced criminals, were detained shortly after the incident in the neighboring community of Vénissieux, France, according to investigative sources.

A female accomplice who took part in the heist was likewise arrested, a police source indicated.

“Six people who utilized explosives in an assault targeting a precious metals company in Lyon, France were caught in the act,” the nation's interior minister announced via X, commending law enforcement for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were recovered as well.

The raid happened as law enforcement in France on the same day apprehended five additional individuals, among them a key figure, in relation to the bold theft at the Louvre.

Many investigative personnel have been hunting four robbers who employed a truck with a hydraulic lift and cutting equipment to access a gallery on the first floor at the museum on October 19th, making off with ornaments assessed at around 88 million euros.

In a different significant robbery, robbers the previous month forced their way into the Natural History Museum in Paris, making off with gold samples worth over $1 million. A woman from China, aged 24 was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona, Spain in connection with the break-in, prosecutors stated.

The string of thefts has generated apprehension in France regarding insufficient protection at cultural venues and other facilities containing precious artifacts.