Six Individuals Detained Following €12M Armed Raid on Gold Processing Laboratory in France

Six armed perpetrators using military-grade weapons used explosive devices to break into a precious metals processing plant located in Lyon, France, resulting in minor injuries to five staff members during what appears to be the newest significant broad daylight robbery to hit France.

The bold operation was carried out on Thursday late morning, with officers quickly arresting the suspected perpetrators and recovering the stolen goods assessed at around 12 million euros (£10.5M), officials reported.

Five staff members of Laboratoires Pourquery sustained minor injuries from the blast, and three of them required hospital checks for examination, the regional prefecture announced. A total of twenty-eight staff were present on-site when the robbers attacked.

The suspects, thought to be career criminals, were arrested shortly after the incident in the adjacent municipality of Vénissieux, a source close to the investigation stated.

A female accomplice who took part in the raid was also apprehended, a police source indicated.

“Six individuals who utilized explosives in an assault targeting a gold refining facility in Lyon were arrested at the scene,” the French interior minister stated online, commending law enforcement for their “quick action, authority and management”.

High-caliber firearms, handguns and detonation devices were likewise seized.

The raid happened as authorities on Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, featuring a main perpetrator, in relation to the bold theft at the Louvre.

Dozens of investigators have been pursuing four thieves who utilized a lorry equipped with a moving lift and cutting tools to breach a first-floor gallery at the renowned museum on 19 October, escaping with jewelry valued at approximately €88M.

In a separate high-profile case, robbers the previous month forced their way into the French capital's Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples worth over $1 million. A young Chinese female was apprehended in the current month in Barcelona in relation to the burglary, prosecutors stated.

The sequence of heists has raised concerns in the country regarding lax security at museums and other institutions housing valuable items.