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

A team of six suspects equipped with military-grade weapons employed explosives to force entry into a gold refining laboratory located in Lyon, France, slightly injuring five employees during described as the newest significant broad daylight robbery to affect the country.

The bold operation occurred on Thursday late morning, with officers quickly arresting the suspected perpetrators and recovering the stolen goods valued at approximately 12 million euros (£10.5M), officials reported.

Five employees of the gold refining company sustained minor injuries from the blast, and three of them were transported to hospital for evaluation, the regional prefecture announced. A total of twenty-eight staff were at the location when the perpetrators raided.

Those arrested, considered career criminals, were arrested a brief time later in the nearby town of the town of Vénissieux, according to investigative sources.

A woman involved involved in the robbery was also apprehended, officers confirmed.

“Six suspects who employed explosive devices in a raid against a metals processing plant in the Lyon area were caught in the act,” the nation's interior minister announced via X, lauding police for their “quick action, authority and management”.

High-caliber firearms, handguns and detonation devices were likewise seized.

The robbery occurred as law enforcement in France on the same day detained five further people, featuring a main perpetrator, in regarding the bold Louvre museum robbery.

Many investigative personnel have been hunting four thieves who employed a truck equipped with a moving lift and cutting tools to access a gallery on the first floor at the prestigious institution on 19 October, fleeing with ornaments assessed at around €88M.

In a different significant robbery, burglars recently forced their way into the French capital's Natural History Museum, taking gold specimens valued at more than one million dollars. A young Chinese female was arrested earlier this month in the city of Barcelona in regarding the theft, according to legal authorities.

The sequence of heists has sparked worry in the country regarding inadequate security measures at museums and other institutions containing precious artifacts.