Six Arrested After €12 Million Robbery on Precious Metals Facility in the French Republic

A team of six suspects carrying assault rifles and handguns used explosive devices to breach the security of a precious metals processing plant located in the city of Lyon, causing light wounds to five employees during what is being called the most recent prominent daytime heist to affect France.

The bold operation took place on the afternoon of Thursday, with officers swiftly apprehending the individuals believed responsible and retrieving the loot assessed at around €12 million (10.5 million pounds), according to officials.

Five workers of the gold refining company received light wounds due to the explosion, and three of them required hospital checks for assessment, officials confirmed. Twenty-eight workers were present on-site when the perpetrators raided.

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

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

“Six people who utilized explosives in an attack on a precious metals company in Lyon were arrested at the scene,” the French interior minister announced via X, lauding police for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

Military-style weapons, pistols and explosive materials were recovered as well.

The heist took place as authorities on Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, among them a key figure, in connection with the recent audacious Louvre museum robbery.

Numerous detectives have been pursuing four robbers who employed a truck with a hydraulic lift and cutting tools to access a gallery on the first floor at the museum on October 19th, fleeing with precious items estimated to be worth €88M.

In another notable incident, robbers the previous month broke into the Parisian museum of natural history, making off with gold samples estimated at exceeding $1M. A young Chinese female was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona, Spain in relation to the burglary, officials confirmed.

This series of robberies has sparked worry in the country regarding inadequate security measures at cultural venues and other facilities containing precious artifacts.