Six Arrested Following €12M Armed Raid on Gold Processing Laboratory in the French Republic

A team of six suspects equipped with military-grade weapons employed explosives to force entry into a precious metals processing plant located in Lyon, resulting in minor injuries to five workers during what appears to be the newest significant daytime heist to affect the nation.

The bold operation took place on the afternoon of Thursday, with officers swiftly apprehending the alleged criminals and securing the stolen items valued at approximately €12M (£10.5 million), officials reported.

Five workers of Laboratoires Pourquery were slightly hurt as a result of the detonation, and three of them required hospital checks for evaluation, according to regional authorities. Twenty-eight workers were inside the facility when the perpetrators raided.

Those arrested, thought to be experienced criminals, were arrested shortly after the incident in the neighboring community of Vénissieux, authorities revealed.

A female participant involved in the robbery was taken into custody as well, a police source indicated.

“Six people who utilized explosives in an attack on a metals processing plant in Lyon were apprehended red-handed,” the French interior minister declared on social media, praising officers for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

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

The raid happened as authorities on Thursday detained five further people, featuring a main perpetrator, in regarding the recent audacious raid on the Louvre museum.

Numerous detectives have been searching for four robbers who used a vehicle with a hydraulic lift and cutting equipment to access a gallery on the first floor at the prestigious institution on 19 October, making off with precious items estimated to be worth €88 million.

In another notable incident, thieves last month entered illegally the Parisian museum of natural history, stealing gold samples worth over $1 million. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was apprehended in the current month in Barcelona, Spain in relation to the burglary, prosecutors stated.

The sequence of heists has raised concerns in the nation regarding insufficient protection at cultural venues and other facilities housing valuable items.