Six Arrested After 12 Million Euro Robbery on Precious Metals Facility in the French Republic
Six armed perpetrators using assault rifles and handguns used explosive devices to breach the security of a gold treatment facility located in the city of Lyon, slightly injuring five staff members during what is being called the most recent prominent daylight theft to affect France.
The audacious robbery took place on Thursday late morning, with police forces swiftly apprehending the suspected perpetrators and recovering the stolen goods valued at approximately 12 million euros (ÂŁ10.5 million), according to officials.
Five workers of the precious metals facility received light wounds due to the explosion, and three employees required hospital checks for assessment, officials confirmed. Twenty-eight workers were present on-site when the thieves struck.
Those arrested, believed to be experienced criminals, were taken into custody a brief time later in the neighboring community of VĂ©nissieux, France, according to investigative sources.
A woman involved who participated in the heist was taken into custody as well, according to law enforcement.
“Six suspects who employed explosive devices in an attack on a metals processing plant in Lyon, France were apprehended red-handed,” the nation's interior minister declared on social media, praising officers for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.
High-caliber firearms, handguns and detonation devices were likewise seized.
The robbery occurred as law enforcement in France on Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, among them a key figure, in regarding this month's brazen Louvre museum robbery.
Dozens of investigators have been pursuing four thieves who used a vehicle featuring an elevating platform and cutting gear to breach a first-floor gallery at the prestigious institution on October 19th, fleeing with ornaments assessed at around €88M.
In another notable incident, thieves last month forced their way into the French capital's Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples valued at more than one million dollars. A 24-year-old Chinese woman was taken into custody recently in Barcelona, Spain in regarding the theft, officials confirmed.
The sequence of heists has raised concerns in the nation regarding lax security at museums and other institutions containing precious artifacts.
