Six Arrested Following €12M Armed Raid on Precious Metals Facility in France

A team of six suspects using high-powered firearms detonated charges to force entry into a precious metals processing plant located in Lyon, resulting in minor injuries to five employees during described as the newest significant daylight theft to hit the country.

The daring raid was carried out on Thursday late morning, with police forces swiftly apprehending the individuals believed responsible and securing the stolen items valued at approximately €12 million (£10.5 million), according to officials.

Five workers of Laboratoires Pourquery sustained minor injuries as a result of the detonation, and three of them required hospital checks for examination, according to regional authorities. A total of twenty-eight staff were at the location when the robbers attacked.

The individuals, considered career criminals, were detained soon afterwards in the neighboring community of the town of Vénissieux, authorities revealed.

A female accomplice who took part in the robbery was likewise arrested, a police source indicated.

“Six suspects who employed explosive devices in a raid against a metals processing plant in the Lyon area were caught in the act,” the French interior minister declared on social media, commending law enforcement for their “quick action, authority and management”.

High-caliber firearms, handguns and detonation devices were recovered as well.

The heist took place as authorities on Thursday detained five further people, featuring a main perpetrator, in connection with the recent audacious raid on the Louvre museum.

Dozens of investigators have been searching for four robbers who used a vehicle featuring an elevating platform and cutting equipment to breach a first-floor gallery at the museum on October 19th, escaping with ornaments assessed at around €88M.

In a different significant robbery, thieves last month broke into the Parisian museum of natural history, taking gold specimens valued at more than one million dollars. A young Chinese female was taken into custody recently in the city of Barcelona in regarding the theft, according to legal authorities.

This series of robberies has sparked worry in the country regarding lax security at museums and other institutions containing precious artifacts.