Six Arrested Following €12M Robbery on Gold Processing Laboratory in France

A group of six individuals using high-powered firearms used explosive devices to break into a gold refining laboratory located in the city of Lyon, slightly injuring five staff members during what appears to be the latest high-profile daytime heist to occur in the country.

The audacious robbery took place on Thursday afternoon, with officers swiftly apprehending the suspected perpetrators and securing the stolen items valued at approximately 12 million euros (£10.5M), according to officials.

Five workers of the gold refining company were slightly hurt due to the explosion, and three employees were taken to a medical facility for evaluation, the regional prefecture announced. A total of twenty-eight staff were inside the facility when the perpetrators raided.

Those arrested, considered career criminals, were taken into custody a brief time later in the neighboring community of Vénissieux, France, according to investigative sources.

A female participant who took part in the robbery was likewise arrested, officers confirmed.

“Six suspects who employed explosive devices in an attack on a gold refining facility in the Lyon area were apprehended red-handed,” the nation's interior minister declared on social media, praising officers for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were recovered as well.

The robbery occurred as law enforcement in France on the same day arrested five more suspects, including a primary suspect, in relation to this month's brazen raid on the Louvre museum.

Dozens of investigators have been hunting four robbers who used a vehicle featuring an elevating platform and cutting equipment to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the museum on October 19th, fleeing with ornaments assessed at around €88 million.

In a separate high-profile case, robbers the previous month forced their way into the Parisian museum of natural history, taking gold specimens worth over $1 million. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was taken into custody recently in Barcelona, Spain in relation to the burglary, prosecutors stated.

The string of thefts has raised concerns in France regarding lax security at museums and various establishments housing valuable items.