Six Arrested Following €12 Million Heist on Precious Metals Facility in France

A group of six individuals using military-grade weapons detonated charges to breach the security of a gold treatment facility located in Lyon, France, causing light wounds to five workers during described as the latest high-profile daytime heist to affect the country.

The daring raid took place on the afternoon of Thursday, with police forces swiftly apprehending the suspected perpetrators and securing the stolen items assessed at around 12 million euros (£10.5M), officials reported.

Five staff members of Laboratoires Pourquery were slightly hurt from the blast, and three employees were transported to hospital for assessment, the regional prefecture announced. A total of twenty-eight staff were inside the facility when the perpetrators raided.

The individuals, believed to be experienced criminals, were taken into custody shortly after the incident in the neighboring community of the town of Vénissieux, a source close to the investigation stated.

A woman involved who took part in the heist was likewise arrested, a police source indicated.

“Six individuals who employed explosive devices in a raid against a gold refining facility in the Lyon area were apprehended red-handed,” France's security official announced via X, praising officers for their “quick action, authority and management”.

Military-style weapons, pistols and explosive materials were also confiscated.

The raid happened as law enforcement in France on the same day detained five further people, including a primary suspect, in regarding this month's brazen Louvre museum robbery.

Numerous detectives have been pursuing four thieves who employed a truck with a hydraulic lift and cutting equipment to access a gallery on the first floor at the museum on 19 October, fleeing with jewelry valued at approximately €88M.

In a separate high-profile case, robbers the previous month forced their way into the Parisian museum of natural history, taking gold specimens estimated at exceeding $1M. A young Chinese female was apprehended in the current month in Barcelona, Spain in regarding the theft, prosecutors stated.

This series of robberies has generated apprehension in the nation regarding lax security at cultural venues and other facilities holding high-value objects.