Six Individuals Detained After €12 Million Armed Raid on Gold Processing Laboratory in France

A team of six suspects equipped with high-powered firearms employed explosives to break into a gold refining laboratory located in Lyon, France, slightly injuring five workers during what is being called the newest significant broad daylight robbery to occur in the country.

The bold operation took place on Thursday late morning, with law enforcement authorities swiftly apprehending the alleged criminals and securing the stolen items estimated to be worth 12 million euros (£10.5M), officials reported.

Five workers of the precious metals facility received light wounds as a result of the detonation, and three of them required hospital checks for assessment, the regional prefecture announced. A total of twenty-eight staff were at the location when the perpetrators raided.

The individuals, thought to be seasoned offenders, were taken into custody shortly after the incident in the neighboring community of Vénissieux, according to investigative sources.

A female accomplice who participated in the heist was likewise arrested, officers confirmed.

“Six suspects who utilized explosives in an assault targeting a gold refining facility in Lyon were caught in the act,” the nation's interior minister declared on social media, praising officers for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were recovered as well.

The raid happened as law enforcement in France on that Thursday detained five further people, featuring a main perpetrator, in relation to the recent audacious theft at the Louvre.

Dozens of investigators have been searching for four robbers who used a vehicle featuring an elevating platform and cutting equipment to breach a first-floor gallery at the museum on 19 October, fleeing with jewelry valued at approximately 88 million euros.

In another notable incident, robbers the previous month forced their way into the Parisian museum of natural history, making off with gold samples estimated at exceeding $1M. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was taken into custody recently in Barcelona in connection with the break-in, prosecutors stated.

The sequence of heists has sparked worry in the nation regarding lax security at cultural venues and other facilities housing valuable items.