Six Suspects Apprehended Following €12M Armed Raid on Gold Processing Laboratory in France

A group of six individuals equipped with high-powered firearms employed explosives to breach the security of a precious metals processing plant located in the city of Lyon, slightly injuring five staff members during described as the most recent prominent broad daylight robbery to occur in France.

The bold operation occurred on Thursday late morning, with law enforcement authorities swiftly apprehending the individuals believed responsible and securing the stolen items assessed at around 12 million euros (10.5 million pounds), as stated by authorities.

Five employees of Laboratoires Pourquery sustained minor injuries from the blast, and three of them were taken to a medical facility for examination, according to regional authorities. Twenty-eight workers were inside the facility when the perpetrators raided.

The suspects, believed to be career criminals, were arrested soon afterwards in the adjacent municipality of Vénissieux, France, according to investigative sources.

A female accomplice involved in the raid was also apprehended, officers confirmed.

“Six suspects who used detonations in an attack on a gold refining facility in Lyon were arrested at the scene,” the French interior minister declared on social media, commending law enforcement for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were likewise seized.

The heist took place as French police on the same day arrested five more suspects, featuring a main perpetrator, in connection with this month's brazen Louvre museum robbery.

Numerous detectives have been hunting four robbers who utilized a lorry featuring an elevating platform and cutting gear to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the museum on 19 October, making off with ornaments assessed at around 88 million euros.

In a different significant robbery, burglars recently entered illegally the Natural History Museum in Paris, making off with gold samples valued at more than one million dollars. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was apprehended in the current month in Barcelona, Spain in relation to the burglary, prosecutors stated.

The string of thefts has generated apprehension in France regarding insufficient protection at museums and various establishments containing precious artifacts.