Six Arrested After 12 Million Euro Heist on Precious Metals Facility in the French Republic

A team of six suspects using assault rifles and handguns detonated charges to breach the security of a gold treatment facility located in the city of Lyon, causing light wounds to five staff members during what appears to be the latest high-profile daylight theft to affect the nation.

The audacious robbery was carried out on the afternoon of Thursday, with officers quickly arresting the individuals believed responsible and retrieving the loot valued at approximately €12 million (£10.5M), according to officials.

Five employees of Laboratoires Pourquery were slightly hurt from the blast, and three individuals were transported to hospital for examination, according to regional authorities. Twenty-eight employees were inside the facility when the perpetrators raided.

Those arrested, believed to be experienced criminals, were taken into custody shortly after the incident in the neighboring community of the town of Vénissieux, a source close to the investigation stated.

A female participant who participated in the heist was taken into custody as well, officers confirmed.

“Six suspects who utilized explosives in a raid against a metals processing plant in the Lyon area were arrested at the scene,” the nation's interior minister announced via X, praising officers for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were also confiscated.

The raid happened as French police on the same day arrested five more suspects, featuring a main perpetrator, in regarding the recent audacious raid on the Louvre museum.

Dozens of investigators have been searching for four thieves who used a vehicle with a hydraulic lift and cutting gear to access a gallery on the first floor at the museum on October 19th, fleeing with jewelry valued at approximately €88M.

In a different significant robbery, thieves last month forced their way into the French capital's Natural History Museum, taking gold specimens valued at more than one million dollars. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona in relation to the burglary, prosecutors stated.

This series of robberies has sparked worry in the country regarding inadequate security measures at museums and other institutions holding high-value objects.