Six Individuals Detained Following 12 Million Euro Armed Raid on Gold Refining Lab in France

A team of six suspects equipped with high-powered firearms detonated charges to force entry into a gold treatment facility located in Lyon, slightly injuring five employees during what is being called the most recent prominent daytime heist to hit the nation.

The bold operation took place on Thursday late morning, with officers quickly arresting the alleged criminals and securing the stolen items estimated to be worth €12 million (£10.5M), as stated by authorities.

Five staff members of Laboratoires Pourquery were slightly hurt due to the explosion, and three individuals were transported to hospital for assessment, the regional prefecture announced. A total of twenty-eight staff were present on-site when the thieves struck.

The suspects, believed to be seasoned offenders, were arrested a brief time later in the neighboring community of the town of Vénissieux, according to investigative sources.

A female participant who took part in the robbery was taken into custody as well, officers confirmed.

“Six suspects who employed explosive devices in an assault targeting a gold refining facility in Lyon, France were caught in the act,” the nation's interior minister announced via X, commending law enforcement for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were recovered as well.

The raid happened as authorities on the same day arrested five more suspects, among them a key figure, in regarding the recent audacious Louvre museum robbery.

Dozens of investigators have been pursuing four perpetrators who employed a truck with a hydraulic lift and cutting equipment to breach a first-floor gallery at the museum on the nineteenth of October, escaping with ornaments assessed at around €88 million.

In a different significant robbery, burglars recently broke into the Parisian museum of natural history, taking gold specimens valued at more than one million dollars. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was taken into custody recently in Barcelona in relation to the burglary, prosecutors stated.

This series of robberies has generated apprehension in the country regarding insufficient protection at museums and various establishments containing precious artifacts.