Six Arrested Following €12 Million Heist on Gold Refining Lab in the French Republic

A group of six individuals carrying military-grade weapons used explosive devices to force entry into a gold refining laboratory located in the city of Lyon, causing light wounds to five staff members during what appears to be the latest high-profile broad daylight robbery to hit the country.

The audacious robbery was carried out on Thursday late morning, with law enforcement authorities rapidly detaining the alleged criminals and recovering the stolen goods estimated to be worth 12 million euros (10.5 million pounds), as stated by authorities.

Five employees of the gold refining company were slightly hurt due to the explosion, and three individuals were taken to a medical facility for assessment, the regional prefecture announced. Twenty-eight workers were inside the facility when the thieves struck.

The individuals, considered experienced criminals, were arrested a brief time later in the neighboring community of Vénissieux, France, a source close to the investigation stated.

A female accomplice who participated in the heist was likewise arrested, a police source indicated.

“Six individuals who utilized explosives in an attack on a precious metals company in Lyon, France were caught in the act,” the French interior minister announced via X, lauding police for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

Military-style weapons, pistols and explosive materials were recovered as well.

The raid happened as law enforcement in France on Thursday arrested five more suspects, including a primary suspect, in relation to the bold raid on the Louvre museum.

Dozens of investigators have been hunting four robbers who used a vehicle featuring an elevating platform and cutting tools to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the prestigious institution on October 19th, fleeing with jewelry valued at approximately €88 million.

In a separate high-profile case, burglars recently entered illegally the Natural History Museum in Paris, taking gold specimens valued at more than one million dollars. A young Chinese female was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona in relation to the burglary, prosecutors stated.

The string of thefts has raised concerns in France regarding inadequate security measures at museums and other institutions holding high-value objects.