Six Individuals Detained After 12 Million Euro Armed Raid on Precious Metals Facility in France
A group of six individuals using military-grade weapons used explosive devices to force entry into a gold refining laboratory located in Lyon, France, slightly injuring five workers during described as the most recent prominent daytime heist to occur in the country.
The bold operation took place on Thursday afternoon, with officers swiftly apprehending the suspected perpetrators and retrieving the loot assessed at around €12 million (£10.5M), according to officials.
Five employees of the gold refining company received light wounds due to the explosion, and three employees were taken to a medical facility for assessment, the regional prefecture announced. Twenty-eight workers were at the location when the perpetrators raided.
The suspects, considered career criminals, were detained soon afterwards in the adjacent municipality of VĂ©nissieux, a source close to the investigation stated.
A female participant involved in the heist was taken into custody as well, officers confirmed.
“Six individuals who utilized explosives in an attack on a metals processing plant in Lyon were arrested at the scene,” France's security official stated online, lauding police for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.
High-caliber firearms, handguns and detonation devices were likewise seized.
The heist took place as French police on that Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, including a primary suspect, in relation to the recent audacious raid on the Louvre museum.
Numerous detectives have been searching for four perpetrators who used a vehicle with a hydraulic lift and cutting gear to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the renowned museum on the nineteenth of October, fleeing with jewelry valued at approximately €88M.
In a different significant robbery, robbers the previous month broke into the Natural History Museum in Paris, stealing gold samples estimated at exceeding $1M. A young Chinese female was apprehended in the current month in Barcelona, Spain in relation to the burglary, according to legal authorities.
This series of robberies has sparked worry in the country regarding insufficient protection at museums and various establishments holding high-value objects.
