Six Suspects Apprehended After 12 Million Euro Robbery on Precious Metals Facility in the French Republic

A team of six suspects using assault rifles and handguns used explosive devices to force entry into a gold treatment facility located in the city of Lyon, slightly injuring five employees during described as the newest significant daylight theft to hit the country.

The bold operation occurred on the afternoon of Thursday, with officers quickly arresting the alleged criminals and securing the stolen items valued at approximately €12M (10.5 million pounds), officials reported.

Five staff members of Laboratoires Pourquery sustained minor injuries as a result of the detonation, and three employees required hospital checks for evaluation, according to regional authorities. A total of twenty-eight staff were inside the facility when the thieves struck.

The individuals, considered seasoned offenders, were detained soon afterwards in the nearby town of Vénissieux, France, a source close to the investigation stated.

A woman involved involved in the heist was taken into custody as well, a police source indicated.

“Six people who employed explosive devices in an attack on a gold refining facility in Lyon were apprehended red-handed,” France's security official stated online, praising officers for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were also confiscated.

The robbery occurred as French police on that Thursday detained five further people, among them a key figure, in regarding 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 equipment to access a gallery on the first floor at the museum on October 19th, making off with precious items estimated to be worth 88 million euros.

In another notable incident, robbers the previous month broke into the Natural History Museum in Paris, stealing gold samples estimated at exceeding $1M. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona in relation to the burglary, according to legal authorities.

The string of thefts has generated apprehension in the nation regarding insufficient protection at museums and various establishments housing valuable items.