Six Arrested Following €12 Million Robbery on Precious Metals Facility in the French Republic

Six armed perpetrators using assault rifles and handguns used explosive devices to break into a precious metals processing plant located in the city of Lyon, resulting in minor injuries to five staff members during described as the latest high-profile daytime heist to hit the nation.

The bold operation was carried out on Thursday late morning, with police forces swiftly apprehending the individuals believed responsible and recovering the stolen goods estimated to be worth €12M (£10.5M), officials reported.

Five workers of Laboratoires Pourquery received light wounds due to the explosion, and three of them were taken to a medical facility for evaluation, according to regional authorities. A total of twenty-eight staff were inside the facility when the perpetrators raided.

The individuals, thought to be experienced criminals, were taken into custody a brief time later in the adjacent municipality of the town of Vénissieux, authorities revealed.

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

“Six suspects who employed explosive devices in a raid against a precious metals company in the Lyon area were apprehended red-handed,” the French interior minister declared on social media, commending law enforcement for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.

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

The raid happened as law enforcement in France on that Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, featuring a main perpetrator, in relation to this month's brazen theft at the Louvre.

Dozens of investigators have been pursuing four perpetrators who utilized a lorry featuring an elevating platform and cutting tools to access a gallery on the first floor at the renowned museum on 19 October, escaping with precious items estimated to be worth 88 million euros.

In another notable incident, thieves last month entered illegally the Parisian museum of natural history, making off with gold samples estimated at exceeding $1M. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was apprehended in the current month in the city of Barcelona in regarding the theft, prosecutors stated.

This series of robberies has raised concerns in France regarding inadequate security measures at museums and other institutions containing precious artifacts.