A group of six individuals equipped with military-grade weapons used explosive devices to force entry into a gold refining laboratory located in Lyon, causing light wounds to five workers during what appears to be the newest significant daytime heist to occur in the country.
The audacious robbery took place on the afternoon of Thursday, with police forces rapidly detaining the suspected perpetrators and securing the stolen items assessed at around 12 million euros (10.5 million pounds), as stated by authorities.
Five staff members of the precious metals facility were slightly hurt due to the explosion, and three of them required hospital checks for assessment, officials confirmed. Twenty-eight workers were at the location when the perpetrators raided.
The individuals, thought to be career criminals, were detained shortly after the incident in the nearby town of VĂ©nissieux, France, authorities revealed.
A woman involved involved in the raid was also apprehended, officers confirmed.
âSix suspects who employed explosive devices in an attack on a precious metals company in the Lyon area were apprehended red-handed,â the French interior minister stated online, commending law enforcement for their âdecisiveness, speed and controlâ.
Assault rifles, handguns and explosives were also confiscated.
The raid happened as law enforcement in France on Thursday detained five further people, including a primary suspect, in connection with the bold raid on the Louvre museum.
Dozens of investigators have been pursuing four perpetrators who used a vehicle with a hydraulic lift and cutting tools to breach a first-floor gallery at the museum on October 19th, making off with ornaments assessed at around âŹ88 million.
In a different significant robbery, robbers the previous month broke into the French capital's Natural History Museum, taking gold specimens worth over $1 million. A woman from China, aged 24 was arrested earlier this month in Barcelona in connection with the break-in, prosecutors stated.
The sequence of heists has generated apprehension in the country regarding inadequate security measures at museums and other institutions holding high-value objects.
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