Six Suspects Apprehended Following €12M Armed Raid on Precious Metals Facility in the French Republic

A group of six individuals equipped with military-grade weapons detonated charges to force entry into a gold treatment facility located in Lyon, France, resulting in minor injuries to five staff members during what appears to be the newest significant broad daylight robbery to occur in the nation.

The daring raid was carried out on Thursday afternoon, with law enforcement authorities swiftly apprehending the individuals believed responsible and retrieving the loot valued at approximately €12 million (10.5 million pounds), as stated by authorities.

Five workers of the precious metals facility were slightly hurt as a result of the detonation, and three individuals required hospital checks for evaluation, according to regional authorities. Twenty-eight employees were inside the facility when the robbers attacked.

The individuals, believed to be career criminals, were taken into custody shortly after the incident in the adjacent municipality of Vénissieux, France, according to investigative sources.

A female accomplice involved in the raid was taken into custody as well, according to law enforcement.

“Six individuals who used detonations in a raid against a metals processing plant in Lyon, France were arrested at the scene,” the nation's interior minister declared on social media, praising officers for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.

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

The heist took place as authorities on Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, including a primary suspect, in relation to this month's brazen raid on the Louvre museum.

Dozens of investigators have been hunting four robbers who employed a truck equipped with a moving lift and cutting tools to breach a first-floor gallery at the museum on 19 October, escaping with jewelry valued at approximately €88M.

In a separate high-profile case, robbers the previous month entered illegally the Natural History Museum in Paris, stealing gold samples worth over $1 million. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona in regarding the theft, officials confirmed.

The sequence of heists has generated apprehension in the nation regarding insufficient protection at cultural venues and other facilities housing valuable items.