Six Individuals Detained After 12 Million Euro Heist on Precious Metals Facility in the French Republic

Six armed perpetrators using high-powered firearms employed explosives to force entry into a gold refining laboratory located in the city of Lyon, causing light wounds to five staff members during described as the most recent prominent daylight theft to affect France.

The bold operation took place on Thursday late morning, with officers rapidly detaining the alleged criminals and securing the stolen items assessed at around 12 million euros (£10.5M), according to officials.

Five staff members of Laboratoires Pourquery were slightly hurt from the blast, and three employees required hospital checks for evaluation, the regional prefecture announced. Twenty-eight workers were at the location when the thieves struck.

The suspects, considered experienced criminals, were detained shortly after the incident in the nearby town of Vénissieux, France, authorities revealed.

A female accomplice who took part in the heist was likewise arrested, according to law enforcement.

“Six people who used detonations in an assault targeting a precious metals company in Lyon, France were apprehended red-handed,” the French interior minister declared on social media, commending law enforcement for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.

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

The heist took place as law enforcement in France on the same day arrested five more suspects, featuring a main perpetrator, in connection with the recent audacious theft at the Louvre.

Numerous detectives have been searching for four thieves who utilized a lorry equipped with a moving lift and cutting gear to breach a first-floor gallery at the renowned museum on 19 October, making off with precious items estimated to be worth €88 million.

In a different significant robbery, thieves last month entered illegally the Parisian museum of natural history, taking gold specimens valued at more than one million dollars. A woman from China, aged 24 was taken into custody recently in Barcelona in connection with the break-in, officials confirmed.

This series of robberies has sparked worry in the nation regarding lax security at museums and other institutions housing valuable items.