Europol – „Law enforcement is increasing concerned about the increasingly heavier explosives that criminals are using to gain access to the cash machines’ content. „

The German authorities, together with their Dutch and Belgian counterparts, have arrested thirteen members of a Dutch gang linked to 21 attacks against cash machines in Germany, causing millions of euros in damage.

The gang is believed to have targeted a total of up 12 ATMs in Germany; six in Rhineland-Palatinate, three in North Rhine-Westphalia, two in Lower Saxony and one in Hesse, stealing around EUR 1.6 million. 

These attacks are estimated to have caused over EUR 4 million worth of damage to the targeted premises, demonstrating that the criminals have no insight into the risk of harm, or even possibility of death, to those who lived nearby or who were near the cash machines at the time.

Life-threatening 

Law enforcement is increasing concerned about the increasingly heavier explosives that criminals are using to gain access to the cash machines’ content.

These explosions are putting at risk the lives of local residents and bystanders: the surrounding buildings can collapse, or fragments of the explosion hit passers-by. 

In some cases, the perpetrators also escape the crime scene in powerful motorised vehicles at high speed (250 km/h), causing a serious risk to public safety.