Six Arrested Following 12 Million Euro Armed Raid on Gold Processing Laboratory in the French Republic

A team of six suspects equipped with assault rifles and handguns used explosive devices to force entry into a gold refining laboratory located in Lyon, resulting in minor injuries to five employees during what appears to be the most recent prominent daytime heist to occur in France.

The daring raid was carried out on Thursday afternoon, with police forces rapidly detaining the suspected perpetrators and retrieving the loot valued at approximately €12 million (10.5 million pounds), as stated by authorities.

Five workers of the gold refining company received light wounds as a result of the detonation, and three of them were taken to a medical facility for assessment, officials confirmed. Twenty-eight employees were inside the facility when the perpetrators raided.

Those arrested, considered seasoned offenders, were arrested shortly after the incident in the adjacent municipality of the town of Vénissieux, authorities revealed.

A female participant who took part in the heist was taken into custody as well, officers confirmed.

“Six suspects who employed explosive devices in an attack on a gold refining facility in Lyon were apprehended red-handed,” France's security official declared on social media, praising officers for their “quick action, authority and management”.

High-caliber firearms, handguns and detonation devices were also confiscated.

The heist took place as authorities on Thursday detained five further people, among them a key figure, in relation to the recent audacious theft at the Louvre.

Dozens of investigators have been hunting four thieves who utilized a lorry featuring an elevating platform and cutting equipment to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the prestigious institution on October 19th, fleeing with precious items estimated to be worth €88M.

In another notable incident, burglars recently entered illegally the Natural History Museum in Paris, stealing gold samples valued at more than one million dollars. A woman from China, aged 24 was apprehended in the current month in the city of Barcelona in connection with the break-in, officials confirmed.

The string of thefts has sparked worry in the country regarding insufficient protection at museums and various establishments holding high-value objects.