Six Arrested After 12 Million Euro Heist on Precious Metals Facility in France
A group of six individuals using high-powered firearms detonated charges to breach the security of a precious metals processing plant located in the city of Lyon, resulting in minor injuries to five workers during described as the newest significant daytime heist to hit the nation.
The daring raid occurred on Thursday late morning, with law enforcement authorities swiftly apprehending the alleged criminals and securing the stolen items estimated to be worth €12M (10.5 million pounds), officials reported.
Five workers of the gold refining company were slightly hurt as a result of the detonation, and three employees required hospital checks for examination, officials confirmed. Twenty-eight employees were at the location when the thieves struck.
The suspects, thought to be experienced criminals, were arrested a brief time later in the nearby town of the town of Vénissieux, according to investigative sources.
A female participant involved in the raid was taken into custody as well, a police source indicated.
“Six individuals who used detonations in an assault targeting a gold refining facility in Lyon were apprehended red-handed,” the French interior minister declared on social media, commending law enforcement for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.
Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were recovered as well.
The raid happened as authorities on the same day apprehended five additional individuals, including a primary suspect, in connection with the bold theft at the Louvre.
Many investigative personnel have been searching for four thieves who employed a truck with a hydraulic lift and cutting tools to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the prestigious institution on the nineteenth of October, escaping with precious items estimated to be worth 88 million euros.
In a different significant robbery, burglars recently broke into the Parisian museum of natural history, making off with gold samples estimated at exceeding $1M. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was arrested earlier this month in the city of Barcelona in connection with the break-in, according to legal authorities.
The sequence of heists has raised concerns in the country regarding inadequate security measures at museums and other institutions containing precious artifacts.
