Six Arrested After 12 Million Euro Heist on Precious Metals Facility in France
Six armed perpetrators using high-powered firearms used explosive devices to force entry into a precious metals processing plant located in the city of Lyon, resulting in minor injuries to five employees during described as the most recent prominent daytime heist to affect France.
The bold operation took place on Thursday late morning, with officers quickly arresting the individuals believed responsible and securing the stolen items estimated to be worth 12 million euros (10.5 million pounds), as stated by authorities.
Five workers of Laboratoires Pourquery received light wounds as a result of the detonation, and three individuals were taken to a medical facility for assessment, according to regional authorities. Twenty-eight workers were inside the facility when the thieves struck.
The suspects, thought to be seasoned offenders, were detained shortly after the incident in the nearby town of the town of VĂ©nissieux, according to investigative sources.
A female accomplice involved in the raid was taken into custody as well, a police source indicated.
“Six people who utilized explosives in an attack on a metals processing plant in Lyon, France were arrested at the scene,” France's security official declared on social media, lauding police for their “quick action, authority and management”.
Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were recovered as well.
The robbery occurred as authorities on the same day detained five further people, among them a key figure, in regarding the recent audacious Louvre museum robbery.
Dozens of investigators have been searching for four robbers who used a vehicle equipped with a moving lift and cutting tools to break into an upper-level exhibition space at the renowned museum on the nineteenth of October, fleeing with ornaments assessed at around €88 million.
In another notable incident, robbers the previous month entered illegally the French capital's Natural History Museum, taking gold specimens valued at more than one million dollars. A young Chinese female was arrested earlier this month in the city of Barcelona in connection with the break-in, prosecutors stated.
The sequence of heists has raised concerns in France regarding insufficient protection at museums and various establishments housing valuable items.
