Six Suspects Apprehended After €12 Million Armed Raid on Precious Metals Facility in France

A team of six suspects equipped with assault rifles and handguns employed explosives to break into a precious metals processing plant located in Lyon, resulting in minor injuries to five workers during what appears to be the newest significant daytime heist to occur in France.

The audacious robbery was carried out on the afternoon of Thursday, with officers quickly arresting the alleged criminals and retrieving the loot assessed at around 12 million euros (£10.5 million), according to officials.

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

The suspects, believed to be seasoned offenders, were arrested soon afterwards in the adjacent municipality of Vénissieux, a source close to the investigation stated.

A woman involved who participated in the heist was taken into custody as well, according to law enforcement.

“Six individuals who employed explosive devices in a raid against a gold refining facility in Lyon were arrested at the scene,” the nation's interior minister declared on social media, lauding police for their “quick action, authority and management”.

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

The raid happened as law enforcement in France on that Thursday arrested five more suspects, including a primary suspect, in relation to this month's brazen Louvre museum robbery.

Dozens of investigators have been hunting four perpetrators who utilized a lorry featuring an elevating platform and cutting gear to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the museum on October 19th, making off with ornaments assessed at around €88 million.

In a different significant robbery, burglars recently broke into the Parisian museum of natural history, making off with gold samples estimated at exceeding $1M. A young Chinese female was apprehended in the current month in Barcelona, Spain in regarding the theft, prosecutors stated.

The sequence of heists has sparked worry in the country regarding insufficient protection at cultural venues and other facilities housing valuable items.