Six Individuals Detained After €12M Robbery on Gold Refining Lab in the French Republic

A team of six suspects using military-grade weapons detonated charges to breach the security of a precious metals processing plant located in Lyon, France, slightly injuring five employees during what is being called the most recent prominent daylight theft to occur in France.

The bold operation was carried out on Thursday late morning, with police forces rapidly detaining the suspected perpetrators and securing the stolen items estimated to be worth 12 million euros (£10.5 million), according to officials.

Five workers of the precious metals facility sustained minor injuries as a result of the detonation, and three employees were taken to a medical facility for evaluation, officials confirmed. A total of twenty-eight staff were at the location when the thieves struck.

Those arrested, thought to be career criminals, were taken into custody soon afterwards in the neighboring community of the town of Vénissieux, authorities revealed.

A female participant involved in the robbery was also apprehended, a police source indicated.

“Six people who used detonations in an assault targeting a gold refining facility in Lyon, France were apprehended red-handed,” the nation's interior minister stated online, praising officers for their “quick action, authority and management”.

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

The raid happened as law enforcement in France on that Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, among them a key figure, in regarding the bold theft at the Louvre.

Numerous detectives have been hunting four robbers who utilized a lorry with a hydraulic lift and cutting tools to access a gallery on the first floor at the renowned museum on October 19th, making off with jewelry valued at approximately €88 million.

In a separate high-profile case, thieves last month broke into the Parisian museum of natural history, making off with gold samples worth over $1 million. A young Chinese female was taken into custody recently in Barcelona in regarding the theft, officials confirmed.

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