For years, criminals have been blowing up ATMs to steal the money inside. Europol is now sounding the alarm, apparently the problem is becoming more serious throughout Europe. The perpetrators have no qualms about putting people’s lives in danger.
According to Europol, explosive attacks on ATMs are increasing dramatically in Europe and are becoming more dangerous. The police agency is very concerned about the increasing violence, Europol spokeswoman Claire Georges said in The Hague. “Extremely heavy explosives are being used more and more often, even causing buildings to collapse and also killing innocent people.”
“These are the modern bank robberies,” the spokeswoman said. Banks have little cash left, she said. In vending machines, however, the gangs could capture hundreds of thousands of euros relatively quickly. Increasingly, innocent citizens are also being endangered, the spokeswoman said. Many vending machines are located in supermarkets or shopping streets. But the perpetrators are extremely unscrupulous, the spokeswoman said. “They don’t care about people, they only care about money.”
Investigators noted this trend in many European countries, the spokeswoman said. These included Germany, southern Europe and the Baltic states. Well-organized criminal gangs specialize in these bombings and also train criminals specifically, she said.
For years, criminals have been blowing up ATMs to steal the money inside. Europol is now sounding the alarm, apparently the problem is becoming more serious throughout Europe. The perpetrators have no qualms about putting people’s lives in danger.
According to Europol, explosive attacks on ATMs are increasing dramatically in Europe and are becoming more dangerous. The police agency is very concerned about the increasing violence, Europol spokeswoman Claire Georges said in The Hague. “Extremely heavy explosives are being used more and more often, even causing buildings to collapse and also killing innocent people.”
“These are the modern bank robberies,” the spokeswoman said. Banks have little cash left, she said. In vending machines, however, the gangs could capture hundreds of thousands of euros relatively quickly. Increasingly, innocent citizens are also being endangered, the spokeswoman said. Many vending machines are located in supermarkets or shopping streets. But the perpetrators are extremely unscrupulous, the spokeswoman said. “They don’t care about people, they only care about money.”
Investigators noted this trend in many European countries, the spokeswoman said. These included Germany, southern Europe and the Baltic states. Well-organized criminal gangs specialize in these bombings and also train criminals specifically, she said.
Training center discovered in the Netherlands
Last year, investigators with the help of Europol had even discovered a training center for vending machine blasts near Utrecht. The criminals would usually haunt an entire region in very fast cars and blow up several vending machines. They often operated internationally in neighboring countries. For example, about half of the suspects for attacks in Germany in 2021 came from the Netherlands.
Exact figures for Europe as a whole are not yet available, as EU member states only report international cases to the European police authority. In Germany, the Federal Criminal Police Office registered 287 cases last year, compared with 268 the year before – despite Corona travel restrictions. But in 2019, the last year before the pandemic, the BKA counted 101 more cases. This year, a further increase is expected.
In the Netherlands, as many blasts had already been registered by September as in the entire previous year. Amsterdam in particular was hit by strong explosions in residential neighborhoods. According to Europol, France has been successful in the fight against the blasts. There, the vending machines are prepared with a special ink so that the captured cash becomes unusable.
Source of the news: https://www.n-tv.de/politi
