Six Suspects Apprehended Following €12M Robbery on Gold Refining Lab in France

A team of six suspects using military-grade weapons used explosive devices to break into a gold treatment facility located in the city of Lyon, slightly injuring five staff members during what appears to be the most recent prominent daylight theft to affect the country.

The daring raid took place on Thursday late morning, with law enforcement authorities swiftly apprehending the suspected perpetrators and securing the stolen items assessed at around 12 million euros (£10.5 million), officials reported.

Five staff members of Laboratoires Pourquery sustained minor injuries due to the explosion, and three individuals required hospital checks for evaluation, the regional prefecture announced. Twenty-eight employees were inside the facility when the robbers attacked.

The individuals, considered seasoned offenders, were arrested shortly after the incident in the neighboring community of Vénissieux, a source close to the investigation stated.

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

“Six people who used detonations in an attack on a precious metals company in Lyon, France were caught in the act,” France's security official stated online, lauding police for their “quick action, authority and management”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were recovered as well.

The heist took place as French police on the same day arrested five more suspects, featuring a main perpetrator, in regarding the bold raid on the Louvre museum.

Dozens of investigators have been searching for four perpetrators who utilized a lorry equipped with a moving lift and cutting equipment to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the museum on October 19th, fleeing with jewelry valued at approximately 88 million euros.

In a separate high-profile case, burglars recently broke into the Parisian museum of natural history, making off with gold samples valued at more than one million dollars. A young Chinese female was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona, Spain in connection with the break-in, prosecutors stated.

The sequence of heists has raised concerns in the country regarding lax security at museums and various establishments holding high-value objects.