Six Arrested Following €12 Million Heist on Precious Metals Facility in France

A group of six individuals carrying assault rifles and handguns detonated charges to break into a gold refining laboratory located in Lyon, causing light wounds to five staff members during described as the most recent prominent daytime heist to occur in France.

The audacious robbery occurred on Thursday afternoon, with officers quickly arresting the alleged criminals and retrieving the loot assessed at around 12 million euros (£10.5M), according to officials.

Five workers of Laboratoires Pourquery received light wounds as a result of the detonation, and three individuals were transported to hospital for assessment, the regional prefecture announced. Twenty-eight employees were inside the facility when the robbers attacked.

Those arrested, considered experienced criminals, were detained a brief time later in the adjacent municipality of the town of Vénissieux, according to investigative sources.

A female participant involved in the robbery was taken into custody as well, according to law enforcement.

“Six suspects who used detonations in an attack on a precious metals company in Lyon were caught in the act,” the nation's interior minister stated online, commending law enforcement for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were likewise seized.

The raid happened as authorities on that Thursday arrested five more suspects, including a primary suspect, in regarding the bold Louvre museum robbery.

Dozens of investigators have been pursuing four thieves who used a vehicle equipped with a moving lift and cutting equipment to breach a first-floor gallery at the museum on October 19th, fleeing with ornaments assessed at around €88M.

In a separate high-profile case, burglars recently broke into the Parisian museum of natural history, making off with gold samples valued at more than one million dollars. A young Chinese female was arrested earlier this month in the city of Barcelona in regarding the theft, according to legal authorities.

The string of thefts has sparked worry in the nation regarding lax security at museums and various establishments holding high-value objects.