Six Individuals Detained After €12 Million Robbery on Gold Refining Lab in France

Six armed perpetrators using high-powered firearms employed explosives to breach the security of a gold treatment facility located in Lyon, resulting in minor injuries to five employees during what appears to be the newest significant daylight theft to occur in France.

The daring raid took place on the afternoon of Thursday, with police forces swiftly apprehending the alleged criminals and recovering the stolen goods estimated to be worth €12M (£10.5M), according to officials.

Five employees of the precious metals facility received light wounds from the blast, and three of them were transported to hospital for assessment, the regional prefecture announced. A total of twenty-eight staff were inside the facility when the robbers attacked.

The suspects, thought to be experienced criminals, were taken into custody a brief time later in the neighboring community of Vénissieux, authorities revealed.

A female participant who participated in the robbery was likewise arrested, officers confirmed.

“Six suspects who utilized explosives in a raid against a precious metals company in the Lyon area were arrested at the scene,” France's security official announced via X, praising officers for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.

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

The robbery occurred as French police on the same day detained five further people, featuring a main perpetrator, in relation to the bold raid on the Louvre museum.

Many investigative personnel have been searching for four robbers who used a vehicle with a hydraulic lift and cutting equipment to access a gallery on the first floor at the museum on the nineteenth of October, fleeing with ornaments assessed at around 88 million euros.

In a separate high-profile case, burglars recently entered illegally the Parisian museum of natural history, making off with gold samples worth over $1 million. A young Chinese female was apprehended in the current month in Barcelona in connection with the break-in, officials confirmed.

The sequence of heists has raised concerns in the country regarding lax security at museums and other institutions housing valuable items.