Six Individuals Detained Following 12 Million Euro Robbery on Gold Processing Laboratory in France

Six armed perpetrators carrying military-grade weapons detonated charges to break into a precious metals processing plant located in Lyon, slightly injuring five employees during what appears to be the most recent prominent daylight theft to occur in France.

The daring raid took place on Thursday late morning, with police forces quickly arresting the alleged criminals and recovering the stolen goods valued at approximately €12M (£10.5 million), officials reported.

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

The suspects, thought to be seasoned offenders, were arrested a brief time later in the adjacent municipality of Vénissieux, France, a source close to the investigation stated.

A female participant who participated in the heist was also apprehended, according to law enforcement.

“Six people who employed explosive devices in an assault targeting a metals processing plant in the Lyon area were apprehended red-handed,” the nation's interior minister declared on social media, lauding police for their “decisiveness, speed and control”.

Military-style weapons, pistols and explosive materials were also confiscated.

The robbery occurred as French police on that Thursday detained five further people, among them a key figure, in relation to this month's brazen theft at the Louvre.

Many investigative personnel have been hunting four perpetrators who used a vehicle equipped with a moving lift and cutting gear to breach a first-floor gallery at the prestigious institution on the nineteenth of October, fleeing with ornaments assessed at around 88 million euros.

In a separate high-profile case, 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 taken into custody recently in Barcelona, Spain in relation to the burglary, officials confirmed.

This series of robberies has generated apprehension in France regarding insufficient protection at cultural venues and other facilities housing valuable items.