Six Suspects Apprehended After €12M Armed Raid on Precious Metals Facility in France

A group of six individuals equipped with assault rifles and handguns used explosive devices to force entry into a precious metals processing plant located in Lyon, causing light wounds to five workers during what appears to be the latest high-profile daylight theft to affect the country.

The bold operation took place on Thursday late morning, with officers rapidly detaining the alleged criminals and recovering the stolen goods estimated to be worth €12M (£10.5M), as stated by authorities.

Five staff members of the gold refining company sustained minor injuries due to the explosion, and three of them were taken to a medical facility for evaluation, the regional prefecture announced. Twenty-eight workers were inside the facility when the perpetrators raided.

Those arrested, thought to be seasoned offenders, were arrested soon afterwards in the nearby town of Vénissieux, a source close to the investigation stated.

A woman involved who participated in the robbery was likewise arrested, according to law enforcement.

“Six suspects who used detonations in an attack on a precious metals company in Lyon, France were apprehended red-handed,” the French interior minister declared on social media, commending law enforcement for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

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

The robbery occurred as law enforcement in France on the same day detained five further people, including a primary suspect, in regarding the bold Louvre museum robbery.

Dozens of investigators have been searching for four perpetrators who employed a truck featuring an elevating platform and cutting tools to access a gallery on the first floor at the renowned museum on the nineteenth of October, fleeing with precious items estimated to be worth 88 million euros.

In a separate high-profile case, thieves last month entered illegally the French capital's Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples worth over $1 million. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona in relation to the burglary, according to legal authorities.

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