Six Individuals Detained Following €12 Million Heist on Gold Refining Lab in France

Six armed perpetrators using assault rifles and handguns employed explosives to breach the security of a precious metals processing plant located in the city of Lyon, slightly injuring five workers during described as the latest high-profile broad daylight robbery to occur in the country.

The bold operation occurred on the afternoon of Thursday, with law enforcement authorities quickly arresting the suspected perpetrators and recovering the stolen goods estimated to be worth €12M (10.5 million pounds), officials reported.

Five employees of Laboratoires Pourquery were slightly hurt from the blast, and three employees were taken to a medical facility for evaluation, the regional prefecture announced. Twenty-eight workers were at the location when the thieves struck.

Those arrested, thought to be seasoned offenders, were taken into custody soon afterwards in the adjacent municipality of Vénissieux, France, according to investigative sources.

A woman involved who participated in the raid was taken into custody as well, according to law enforcement.

“Six suspects who employed explosive devices in a raid against a precious metals company in the Lyon area were arrested at the scene,” the nation's interior minister announced via X, lauding police for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

Military-style weapons, pistols and explosive materials were recovered as well.

The heist took place as law enforcement in France on that Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, featuring a main perpetrator, in regarding the bold raid on the Louvre museum.

Many investigative personnel have been searching for four thieves who used a vehicle with a hydraulic lift and cutting tools to access a gallery on the first floor at the prestigious institution on 19 October, making off with jewelry valued at approximately 88 million euros.

In another notable incident, burglars recently broke into the Natural History Museum in Paris, taking gold specimens worth over $1 million. A young Chinese female was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona in regarding the theft, according to legal authorities.

The sequence of heists has raised concerns in the country regarding inadequate security measures at museums and other institutions containing precious artifacts.