Six Individuals Detained Following €12M Armed Raid on Precious Metals Facility in France

A group of six individuals carrying high-powered firearms detonated charges to break into a gold treatment facility located in Lyon, France, slightly injuring five staff members during what appears to be the latest high-profile broad daylight robbery to affect the nation.

The bold operation was carried out on the afternoon of Thursday, with law enforcement authorities swiftly apprehending the individuals believed responsible and securing the stolen items estimated to be worth €12M (£10.5 million), as stated by authorities.

Five employees of the gold refining company received light wounds as a result of the detonation, and three individuals were transported to hospital for assessment, officials confirmed. Twenty-eight workers were inside the facility when the perpetrators raided.

The individuals, believed to be seasoned offenders, were taken into custody a brief time later in the neighboring community of the town of Vénissieux, according to investigative sources.

A female accomplice who participated in the heist was taken into custody as well, officers confirmed.

“Six people who used detonations in an attack on a metals processing plant in Lyon were arrested at the scene,” France's security official announced via X, praising officers for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

High-caliber firearms, handguns and detonation devices were also confiscated.

The robbery occurred as French police on that Thursday arrested five more suspects, among them a key figure, in connection with the bold theft at the Louvre.

Numerous detectives have been hunting four robbers who utilized a lorry featuring an elevating platform and cutting equipment to access a gallery on the first floor at the renowned museum on October 19th, escaping with jewelry valued at approximately €88 million.

In a separate high-profile case, thieves last month broke into the French capital's Natural History Museum, taking gold specimens estimated at exceeding $1M. A young Chinese female was apprehended in the current month in Barcelona in relation to the burglary, officials confirmed.

The string of thefts has generated apprehension in the nation regarding insufficient protection at museums and other institutions holding high-value objects.