Automated teller machines in Germany are exploding as if on a treadmill. Police arrested 42 people in an unprecedented raid of thieves’ gangs.
The scenario is always the same. A massive nighttime explosion destroyed the ATM and the surrounding area. The robbers take the cash and drive off. There were 496 such cases last year, the German Interior Ministry said, nearly a third more than the previous year, which is a new record. AP.
According to the police, gangs, often across borders, are responsible for the serious robberies. On Friday, the Ministry of Interior reported that it had carried out a raid in the past three days, during which it had arrested 42 suspects. The event took place in seven of the sixteen federal states, and law enforcement officers checked eight thousand people and more than five thousand vehicles.
At the end of January, the police managed to arrest a gang of nine in the Netherlands, who were said to be responsible for six ATMs in Brandenburg.
One of the latest explosions occurred Thursday night on the outskirts of the city of Ratingen, near Dusseldorf. The explosion was so powerful that, in addition to the bank branch, it also destroyed the apartments above it. The newspaper’s website stated that the building had to be inspected by a structural engineer Great advice.
The thieves fled in a dark car, possibly a BMW. Although the police used a helicopter in the search, the perpetrators managed to escape. The authorities have not yet revealed how much money they took.
At the same time, in the city center itself, two ATMs exploded the night before in the pedestrian zone in the center. The perpetrators have also disappeared and law enforcement officers are investigating whether this was the work of one gang.
TN.cz
