Six Arrested Following 12 Million Euro Robbery on Gold Refining Lab in France

Six armed perpetrators using military-grade weapons detonated charges to breach the security of a gold refining laboratory located in Lyon, slightly injuring five staff members during what appears to be the most recent prominent daytime heist to hit the nation.

The daring raid occurred on the afternoon of Thursday, with officers rapidly detaining the individuals believed responsible and securing the stolen items estimated to be worth €12M (10.5 million pounds), according to officials.

Five employees of the gold refining company were slightly hurt due to the explosion, and three of them were taken to a medical facility for assessment, officials confirmed. Twenty-eight workers were inside the facility when the robbers attacked.

Those arrested, believed to be experienced criminals, were taken into custody a brief time later in the nearby town of Vénissieux, France, authorities revealed.

A female participant who took part in the raid was also apprehended, officers confirmed.

“Six individuals who used detonations in an attack on a precious metals company in the Lyon area were arrested at the scene,” the nation's interior minister announced via X, commending law enforcement for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

High-caliber firearms, handguns and detonation devices were recovered as well.

The robbery occurred as authorities on that Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, among them a key figure, in relation to the recent audacious Louvre museum robbery.

Dozens of investigators have been hunting four robbers who utilized a lorry equipped with a moving lift and cutting gear to access a gallery on the first floor at the prestigious institution on October 19th, making off with ornaments assessed at around 88 million euros.

In a different significant robbery, burglars recently entered illegally the French capital's Natural History Museum, stealing gold samples valued at more than one million dollars. A young Chinese female was apprehended in the current month in Barcelona in connection with the break-in, prosecutors stated.

The sequence of heists has raised concerns in France regarding insufficient protection at cultural venues and other facilities housing valuable items.