Six Arrested Following €12 Million Robbery on Precious Metals Facility in France

A group of six individuals using military-grade weapons used explosive devices to breach the security of a gold refining laboratory located in the city of Lyon, resulting in minor injuries to five workers during what appears to be the latest high-profile daytime heist to occur in the nation.

The audacious robbery occurred on Thursday late morning, with police forces swiftly apprehending the individuals believed responsible and retrieving the loot estimated to be worth €12 million (10.5 million pounds), according to officials.

Five workers of the precious metals facility sustained minor injuries as a result of the detonation, and three of them were transported to hospital for examination, the regional prefecture announced. A total of twenty-eight staff were present on-site when the robbers attacked.

The individuals, considered experienced criminals, were detained soon afterwards in the neighboring community of Vénissieux, France, a source close to the investigation stated.

A female accomplice who took part in the raid was taken into custody as well, a police source indicated.

“Six people who used detonations in an attack on a precious metals company in Lyon, France were apprehended red-handed,” France's security official declared on social media, commending law enforcement for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were recovered as well.

The heist took place as authorities on that Thursday arrested five more suspects, featuring a main perpetrator, in regarding the recent audacious theft at the Louvre.

Dozens of investigators have been hunting four thieves who employed a truck featuring an elevating platform and cutting equipment to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the renowned museum on the nineteenth of October, fleeing with jewelry valued at approximately €88 million.

In a separate high-profile case, burglars recently entered illegally the French capital's Natural History Museum, taking gold specimens estimated at exceeding $1M. A woman from China, aged 24 was taken into custody recently in Barcelona in relation to the burglary, prosecutors stated.

The string of thefts has raised concerns in the nation regarding insufficient protection at museums and various establishments holding high-value objects.