A group of six individuals using military-grade weapons detonated charges to breach the security of a gold refining laboratory located in Lyon, slightly injuring five employees during what appears to be the latest high-profile broad daylight robbery to hit the nation.
The bold operation took place on the afternoon of Thursday, with police forces swiftly apprehending the individuals believed responsible and retrieving the loot valued at approximately 12 million euros (£10.5 million), according to officials.
Five employees of the gold refining company were slightly hurt due to the explosion, and three employees were transported to hospital for evaluation, the regional prefecture announced. Twenty-eight employees were at the location when the thieves struck.
The suspects, thought to be career criminals, were taken into custody a brief time later in the adjacent municipality of the town of Vénissieux, authorities revealed.
A female accomplice who participated in the raid was likewise arrested, a police source indicated.
“Six individuals who used detonations in an assault targeting a gold refining facility in Lyon, France were apprehended red-handed,” the French interior minister announced via X, commending law enforcement for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.
Military-style weapons, pistols and explosive materials were likewise seized.
The heist took place as authorities on the same day arrested five more suspects, among them a key figure, in relation to the recent audacious Louvre museum robbery.
Many investigative personnel have been pursuing four thieves who employed a truck featuring an elevating platform and cutting tools to access a gallery on the first floor at the renowned museum on 19 October, escaping with precious items estimated to be worth €88 million.
In a different significant robbery, thieves last month broke into the French capital's Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples worth over $1 million. A young Chinese female was apprehended in the current month in Barcelona, Spain in connection with the break-in, prosecutors stated.
The string of thefts has generated apprehension in the nation regarding inadequate security measures at museums and other institutions containing precious artifacts.
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