French police arrested six suspects on Wednesday and recovered most of the haul from a daring armored car heist, as a labor union pressed for tighter security following a string of attacks since April.
Five men, including four known to police, were picked up in a suburban Paris home, where sports bags filled with cash and around 50 weapons were also seized, police sources said.
A sixth man was arrested elsewhere by police, who believe they recovered all or most of the several million francs stolen in a commando-style raid on Tuesday just south of the capital.
The robbery, carried out by around 10 people with automatic weapons, an explosive charge and vehicles disguised as unmarked police cars, was the seventh against armored vehicles since April 8, when a Brinks security guard was wounded in a hold-up at a suburban Paris shopping center.
Four guards have been killed since April, including one shot on May 5 during an attack west of Paris by several gunmen who escaped with around 20 million francs (3.0 million euros, 2.8 million dollars).
On Tuesday, a guard was cut by glass as he got out of the vehicle after the robbery, which the Brinks company estimated at several million francs.
Robbers had blocked his truck before spraying it with automatic-weapons fire and blowing a hole in its hold.
The heist sparked a demand by the Force Ouvriere union for round-table talks on improving security for French guards, with the FO citing a attempted hold-up late Thursday which had also left one injured.
In May, armored-car guards staged a two-week strike for high-risk pay that left cash dispensers dry across the country.
A deal struck on May 23 stipulated that the guards would receive a 150-euro (140-dollar) bonus on top of their 1,200-euro-a-month salary to cover them for the dangers inherent in their job.
But cash transporters also want increased protection from attacks such as one carried out with a rocket launcher in southern France on November 6.
Two guards were injured in that assault.
Also looming is the massive distribution of euro coins and bills due to enter circulation at the end of 2001.
More than 14 billion notes and 50 billion coins are slated for delivery to European banks and businesses starting in September, presenting officials with a logistics challenge of major proportions.
Fifty billion coins are "the equivalent of 50,000 truckloads," according to a spokesman for the European Central Bank.
German banks have called for military escorts at taxpayer expense, but the government in Berlin has not warmed to the idea -- PARIS (AFP)
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