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

A group of six individuals carrying assault rifles and handguns used explosive devices to force entry into a gold treatment facility located in Lyon, causing light wounds to five staff members during what is being called the latest high-profile daytime heist to affect France.

The audacious robbery took place on the afternoon of Thursday, with police forces rapidly detaining the suspected perpetrators and securing the stolen items estimated to be worth €12M (£10.5M), according to officials.

Five staff members of the gold refining company sustained minor injuries due to the explosion, and three individuals were transported to hospital for assessment, according to regional authorities. Twenty-eight employees were inside the facility when the robbers attacked.

The suspects, believed to be experienced criminals, were detained soon afterwards in the nearby town of Vénissieux, France, authorities revealed.

A female accomplice involved in the raid was likewise arrested, officers confirmed.

“Six individuals who employed explosive devices in a raid against a metals processing plant in Lyon, France were arrested at the scene,” the nation's interior minister announced via X, commending law enforcement for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

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

The robbery occurred as authorities on that Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, including a primary suspect, in regarding the bold raid on the Louvre museum.

Numerous detectives have been pursuing four thieves who utilized a lorry featuring an elevating platform and cutting equipment to breach a first-floor gallery at the museum on October 19th, fleeing with ornaments assessed at around 88 million euros.

In a different significant robbery, robbers the previous month forced their way into the Parisian museum of natural history, stealing gold samples estimated at exceeding $1M. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was arrested earlier this month in the city of Barcelona in connection with the break-in, prosecutors stated.

This series of robberies has raised concerns in France regarding lax security at museums and other institutions containing precious artifacts.