Six Suspects Apprehended Following €12 Million Robbery on Gold Processing Laboratory in France

A group of six individuals carrying military-grade weapons employed explosives to breach the security of a gold treatment facility located in Lyon, France, resulting in minor injuries to five employees during described as the newest significant broad daylight robbery to affect France.

The audacious robbery was carried out on the afternoon of Thursday, with officers rapidly detaining the alleged criminals and recovering the stolen goods assessed at around €12 million (£10.5M), officials reported.

Five employees of the precious metals facility were slightly hurt from the blast, and three of them were taken to a medical facility for assessment, officials confirmed. Twenty-eight employees were at the location when the thieves struck.

Those arrested, thought to be career criminals, were arrested soon afterwards in the neighboring community of Vénissieux, authorities revealed.

A female accomplice who took part in the raid was taken into custody as well, according to law enforcement.

“Six individuals who used detonations in an assault targeting a metals processing plant in the Lyon area were arrested at the scene,” the French interior minister declared on social media, commending law enforcement for their “quick action, authority and management”.

High-caliber firearms, handguns and detonation devices were recovered as well.

The heist took place as law enforcement in France on the same day arrested five more suspects, featuring a main perpetrator, in relation to the bold theft at the Louvre.

Dozens of investigators have been pursuing four perpetrators who utilized a lorry with a hydraulic lift and cutting equipment to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the renowned museum on 19 October, fleeing with ornaments assessed at around €88 million.

In a different significant robbery, burglars recently forced their way into the Natural History Museum in Paris, making off with gold samples valued at more than one million dollars. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was apprehended in the current month in the city of Barcelona in connection with the break-in, according to legal authorities.

The string of thefts has raised concerns in France regarding inadequate security measures at cultural venues and other facilities holding high-value objects.