Six Suspects Apprehended After €12 Million Armed Raid on Gold Processing Laboratory in France

A team of six suspects carrying high-powered firearms used explosive devices to break into a gold refining laboratory located in the city of Lyon, slightly injuring five staff members during described as the newest significant daytime heist to hit the nation.

The audacious robbery took place on Thursday late morning, with law enforcement authorities swiftly apprehending the suspected perpetrators and securing the stolen items estimated to be worth €12M (£10.5 million), according to officials.

Five employees of the gold refining company sustained minor injuries as a result of the detonation, and three individuals required hospital checks for examination, according to regional authorities. Twenty-eight workers were present on-site when the robbers attacked.

Those arrested, thought to be career criminals, were taken into custody a brief time later in the adjacent municipality of Vénissieux, authorities revealed.

A woman involved who participated in the heist was likewise arrested, officers confirmed.

“Six suspects who employed explosive devices in a raid against a precious metals company in Lyon were arrested at the scene,” the French interior minister announced via X, praising officers for their “quick action, authority and management”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were recovered as well.

The raid happened as French police on Thursday arrested five more suspects, among them a key figure, in regarding the bold raid on the Louvre museum.

Numerous detectives have been hunting four perpetrators who employed a truck equipped with a moving lift and cutting gear to access a gallery on the first floor at the museum on October 19th, fleeing with ornaments assessed at around €88 million.

In a separate high-profile case, burglars recently broke into the French capital's Natural History Museum, stealing gold samples estimated at exceeding $1M. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was apprehended in the current month in the city of Barcelona in connection with the break-in, according to legal authorities.

The sequence of heists has generated apprehension in the nation regarding lax security at cultural venues and other facilities containing precious artifacts.