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

A team of six suspects equipped with military-grade weapons employed explosives to break into a gold refining laboratory located in the city of Lyon, resulting in minor injuries to five staff members during what is being called the newest significant daytime heist to affect the country.

The audacious robbery occurred on Thursday afternoon, with officers quickly arresting the alleged criminals and securing the stolen items valued at approximately €12M (£10.5M), as stated by authorities.

Five employees of the gold refining company received light wounds as a result of the detonation, and three individuals required hospital checks for examination, the regional prefecture announced. Twenty-eight employees were inside the facility when the thieves struck.

The individuals, considered career criminals, were arrested shortly after the incident in the adjacent municipality of Vénissieux, France, according to investigative sources.

A female accomplice involved in the raid was also apprehended, a police source indicated.

“Six individuals who employed explosive devices in a raid against a precious metals company in Lyon were arrested at the scene,” the nation's interior minister announced via X, lauding police for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

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

The heist took place as authorities on Thursday detained five further people, among them a key figure, in connection with the bold Louvre museum robbery.

Dozens of investigators have been pursuing four perpetrators who utilized a lorry with a hydraulic lift and cutting tools to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the renowned museum on 19 October, fleeing with ornaments assessed at around 88 million euros.

In a different significant robbery, thieves last month forced their way into the Natural History Museum in Paris, taking gold specimens worth over $1 million. A young Chinese female was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona in relation to the burglary, prosecutors stated.

The string of thefts has generated apprehension in France regarding insufficient protection at museums and other institutions holding high-value objects.