Six Arrested After €12 Million Armed Raid on Gold Processing Laboratory in France

A team of six suspects equipped with military-grade weapons 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 newest significant daytime heist to hit France.

The bold operation was carried out on Thursday afternoon, with police forces rapidly detaining the suspected perpetrators and retrieving the loot estimated to be worth €12M (£10.5M), according to officials.

Five staff members of Laboratoires Pourquery were slightly hurt as a result of the detonation, and three of them required hospital checks for assessment, the regional prefecture announced. Twenty-eight workers were at the location when the robbers attacked.

Those arrested, considered career criminals, were arrested a brief time later in the neighboring community of the town of Vénissieux, according to investigative sources.

A female accomplice who took part in the robbery was likewise arrested, officers confirmed.

“Six individuals who used detonations in a raid against a precious metals company in Lyon, France were apprehended red-handed,” the nation's interior minister stated online, commending law enforcement for their “quick action, authority and management”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were likewise seized.

The heist took place as authorities on Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, featuring a main perpetrator, in regarding this month's brazen raid on the Louvre museum.

Numerous detectives have been hunting 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, escaping with ornaments assessed at around €88 million.

In another notable incident, thieves last month forced their way into the French capital's Natural History Museum, stealing gold samples estimated at exceeding $1M. A woman from China, aged 24 was arrested earlier this month in the city of Barcelona in connection with the break-in, according to legal authorities.

This series of robberies has generated apprehension in the nation regarding lax security at museums and other institutions containing precious artifacts.