Six Individuals Detained After 12 Million Euro Heist on Gold Processing Laboratory in the French Republic
A team of six suspects carrying military-grade weapons detonated charges to force entry into a precious metals processing plant located in Lyon, resulting in minor injuries to five staff members during what appears to be the newest significant daylight theft to affect the country.
The audacious robbery occurred on Thursday afternoon, with officers swiftly apprehending the individuals believed responsible and securing the stolen items valued at approximately 12 million euros (10.5 million pounds), as stated by authorities.
Five workers of the gold refining company received light wounds as a result of the detonation, and three of them were taken to a medical facility for evaluation, officials confirmed. Twenty-eight employees were at the location when the robbers attacked.
The individuals, considered experienced criminals, were taken into custody soon afterwards in the nearby town of the town of VĂ©nissieux, a source close to the investigation stated.
A woman involved who took part in the robbery was taken into custody as well, a police source indicated.
“Six people who utilized explosives in an assault targeting a gold refining facility in Lyon, France were caught in the act,” the French interior minister declared on social media, praising officers for their “quick action, authority and management”.
High-caliber firearms, handguns and detonation devices were recovered as well.
The raid happened as authorities on the same day arrested five more suspects, featuring a main perpetrator, in connection with this month's brazen Louvre museum robbery.
Dozens of investigators have been hunting four robbers who employed a truck with a hydraulic lift and cutting tools to breach a first-floor gallery at the museum on the nineteenth of October, escaping with precious items estimated to be worth €88M.
In a different significant robbery, robbers the previous month entered illegally the Natural History Museum in Paris, taking gold specimens estimated at exceeding $1M. A woman from China, aged 24 was apprehended in the current month in Barcelona in connection with the break-in, officials confirmed.
This series of robberies has raised concerns in the country regarding insufficient protection at museums and various establishments housing valuable items.
