Six Individuals Detained Following 12 Million Euro Heist on Gold Processing Laboratory in France

A group of six individuals equipped with high-powered firearms detonated charges to force entry into a gold refining laboratory located in the city of Lyon, resulting in minor injuries to five workers during what appears to be the latest high-profile daytime heist to affect the country.

The bold operation occurred on Thursday late morning, with officers quickly arresting the individuals believed responsible and securing the stolen items estimated to be worth 12 million euros (10.5 million pounds), according to officials.

Five employees of the gold refining company were slightly hurt due to the explosion, and three individuals required hospital checks for evaluation, officials confirmed. Twenty-eight workers were present on-site when the robbers attacked.

The suspects, thought to be career criminals, were arrested shortly after the incident in the adjacent municipality of the town of Vénissieux, according to investigative sources.

A woman involved who participated in the heist was likewise arrested, a police source indicated.

“Six people who utilized explosives in an assault targeting a precious metals company in Lyon were caught in the act,” the nation's interior minister announced via X, commending law enforcement for their “quick action, authority and management”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were likewise seized.

The raid happened as law enforcement in France on Thursday arrested five more suspects, featuring a main perpetrator, in regarding the bold Louvre museum robbery.

Numerous detectives have been hunting four thieves who utilized a lorry featuring an elevating platform and cutting tools to breach a first-floor gallery at the prestigious institution on the nineteenth of October, escaping with jewelry valued at approximately €88M.

In another notable incident, robbers the previous month forced their way into the Parisian museum of natural history, taking gold specimens estimated at exceeding $1M. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona, Spain in regarding the theft, prosecutors stated.

The sequence of heists has sparked worry in France regarding insufficient protection at museums and various establishments housing valuable items.