Six Arrested Following €12 Million Robbery on Precious Metals Facility in France

A group of six individuals equipped with assault rifles and handguns employed explosives to breach the security of a precious metals processing plant located in Lyon, France, slightly injuring five staff members during described as the newest significant broad daylight robbery to affect the country.

The bold operation was carried out on the afternoon of Thursday, with police forces rapidly detaining the alleged criminals and securing the stolen items assessed at around €12 million (£10.5M), officials reported.

Five employees of the gold refining company sustained minor injuries from the blast, and three individuals required hospital checks for examination, according to regional authorities. Twenty-eight employees were inside the facility when the perpetrators raided.

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

A woman involved who participated in the raid was taken into custody as well, a police source indicated.

“Six people who employed explosive devices in a raid against a gold refining facility in the Lyon area were caught in the act,” the nation's interior minister announced via X, lauding police for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were recovered as well.

The heist took place as authorities on Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, among them a key figure, in relation to the bold theft at the Louvre.

Many investigative personnel have been pursuing four perpetrators who employed a truck featuring an elevating platform and cutting gear to breach a first-floor gallery at the renowned museum on 19 October, fleeing with precious items estimated to be worth €88M.

In another notable incident, robbers the previous month broke into the French capital's Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples worth over $1 million. A young Chinese female was taken into custody recently in Barcelona in regarding the theft, prosecutors stated.

The string of thefts has generated apprehension in France regarding lax security at cultural venues and other facilities containing precious artifacts.