Six Individuals Detained After €12 Million Heist on Gold Refining Lab in France

Six armed perpetrators equipped with military-grade weapons used explosive devices to force entry into a gold treatment facility located in Lyon, France, causing light wounds to five workers during described as the newest significant daytime heist to occur in France.

The audacious robbery occurred on Thursday afternoon, with officers quickly arresting the suspected perpetrators and recovering the stolen goods valued at approximately 12 million euros (£10.5 million), as stated by authorities.

Five staff members of the gold refining company were slightly hurt as a result of the detonation, and three of them were taken to a medical facility for assessment, the regional prefecture announced. A total of twenty-eight staff were inside the facility when the thieves struck.

The suspects, thought to be career criminals, were detained soon afterwards in the adjacent municipality of Vénissieux, France, a source close to the investigation stated.

A female participant who took part in the heist was also apprehended, according to law enforcement.

“Six individuals who used detonations in an assault targeting a precious metals company in Lyon were apprehended red-handed,” the French interior minister announced via X, praising officers for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

High-caliber firearms, handguns and detonation devices were also confiscated.

The heist took place as law enforcement in France on that Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, featuring a main perpetrator, in connection with the recent audacious Louvre museum robbery.

Dozens of investigators have been pursuing four perpetrators who employed a truck with a hydraulic lift and cutting gear to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the renowned museum on the nineteenth of October, making off with ornaments assessed at around €88 million.

In a separate high-profile case, thieves last month entered illegally the French capital's Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples estimated at exceeding $1M. A woman from China, aged 24 was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona, Spain in relation to the burglary, officials confirmed.

This series of robberies has sparked worry in the nation regarding inadequate security measures at cultural venues and other facilities containing precious artifacts.