Six Arrested After €12 Million Armed Raid on Gold Processing Laboratory in France

Six armed perpetrators carrying high-powered firearms employed explosives to break into a gold refining laboratory located in Lyon, causing light wounds to five workers during what is being called the latest high-profile daylight theft to hit the nation.

The bold operation was carried out on Thursday afternoon, with police forces swiftly apprehending the individuals believed responsible and securing the stolen items assessed at around 12 million euros (£10.5M), officials reported.

Five employees of Laboratoires Pourquery were slightly hurt from the blast, and three of them required hospital checks for assessment, officials confirmed. Twenty-eight workers were present on-site when the robbers attacked.

The suspects, considered experienced criminals, were taken into custody soon afterwards in the nearby town of the town of Vénissieux, a source close to the investigation stated.

A woman involved involved in the robbery was taken into custody as well, a police source indicated.

“Six suspects who employed explosive devices in a raid against a precious metals company in Lyon, France were caught in the act,” France's security official announced via X, commending law enforcement for their “quick action, authority and management”.

Military-style weapons, pistols and explosive materials were also confiscated.

The heist took place as French police on the same day apprehended five additional individuals, including a primary suspect, in connection with this month's brazen raid on the Louvre museum.

Dozens of investigators have been hunting four perpetrators who utilized a lorry equipped with a moving lift and cutting gear to access a gallery on the first floor at the museum on October 19th, escaping with jewelry valued at approximately €88M.

In a separate high-profile case, burglars recently broke into the Natural History Museum in Paris, stealing gold samples estimated at exceeding $1M. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was taken into custody recently in Barcelona, Spain in relation to the burglary, prosecutors stated.

The sequence of heists has sparked worry in the nation regarding lax security at cultural venues and other facilities housing valuable items.