Six Individuals Detained After €12 Million Armed Raid on Gold Processing Laboratory in the French Republic

Six armed perpetrators 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 is being called the latest high-profile broad daylight robbery to hit the nation.

The daring raid took place on Thursday afternoon, with law enforcement authorities rapidly detaining the suspected perpetrators and securing the stolen items estimated to be worth €12M (10.5 million pounds), officials reported.

Five workers of the precious metals facility sustained minor injuries due to the explosion, and three individuals were transported to hospital for evaluation, officials confirmed. A total of twenty-eight staff were present on-site when the thieves struck.

Those arrested, thought to be career criminals, were detained soon afterwards in the adjacent municipality of the town of Vénissieux, authorities revealed.

A woman involved who took part in the heist was taken into custody as well, a police source indicated.

“Six individuals who used detonations in an assault targeting a precious metals company in Lyon were caught in the act,” the French interior minister declared on social media, lauding police for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were recovered as well.

The heist took place as French police on Thursday arrested five more suspects, including a primary suspect, in connection with this month's brazen Louvre museum robbery.

Many investigative personnel have been searching for four perpetrators who used a vehicle equipped with a moving lift and cutting tools to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the museum on October 19th, escaping with ornaments assessed at around €88M.

In a different significant robbery, robbers the previous month entered illegally the Parisian museum of natural history, making off with gold samples worth over $1 million. A young Chinese female was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona in regarding the theft, prosecutors stated.

The sequence of heists has generated apprehension in the country regarding inadequate security measures at museums and various establishments housing valuable items.