Six Suspects Apprehended After €12 Million Heist on Gold Refining Lab in the French Republic

A team of six suspects using military-grade weapons employed explosives to breach the security of a gold refining laboratory located in Lyon, slightly injuring five staff members during described as the latest high-profile daylight theft to affect France.

The daring raid occurred on Thursday afternoon, with law enforcement authorities quickly arresting the individuals believed responsible and recovering the stolen goods valued at approximately €12M (10.5 million pounds), officials reported.

Five workers of the precious metals facility received light wounds due to the explosion, and three of them required hospital checks for examination, officials confirmed. Twenty-eight employees were present on-site when the perpetrators raided.

The individuals, thought to be experienced criminals, were taken into custody shortly after the incident in the adjacent municipality of Vénissieux, France, according to investigative sources.

A female accomplice who took part in the raid was also apprehended, officers confirmed.

“Six people who used detonations in an assault targeting a metals processing plant in Lyon were caught in the act,” the French interior minister announced via X, commending law enforcement for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were likewise seized.

The robbery occurred as French police on Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, among them a key figure, in regarding the bold Louvre museum robbery.

Numerous detectives have been searching for four robbers who used a vehicle equipped with a moving lift and cutting equipment to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the renowned museum on the nineteenth of October, fleeing with precious items estimated to be worth €88M.

In a different significant robbery, robbers the previous month entered illegally the French capital's Natural History Museum, taking gold specimens estimated at exceeding $1M. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was taken into custody recently in Barcelona in regarding the theft, according to legal authorities.

The string of thefts has sparked worry in the country regarding lax security at cultural venues and other facilities housing valuable items.