A gang fell who blew up ATMs to keep the money: they handed out tutorials for every available model

Dutch police and German police they dismantled a gang of robbers who made video tutorials on how to blow up ATMs, a specialty that claimed the life of the prime suspectEuropol and Eurojust reported this Thursday.

29-year-old man died and one of his accomplices was seriously injured a test went wrong in Utrecht (Holland), the European Judicial Cooperation Unit, Eurojust, and the European Police Agency, Europol, said in a joint statement.

A total of nine people were arrested, including three on Tuesday, after 18 months of surveillance on the gang that blew up at least 15 distributors in Germany, realizing a booty of 2.15 million euros (nearly 2.5 million dollars), according to the text.

“The criminals videotaped their tutorials, which they then personally provided to other” colleagues., indicated to the agency AFP Europol spokesperson.

“The prime suspect, a 29-year-old man, (accidentally) blew himself up while filming a video tutorial” in September 2020 and “his accomplice, a 24-year-old, was seriously injured and arrested »On the same occasionhe added.

The search for accomplices began after police in Osnabrück, in Germany, detected that a Dutchman did “suspicious orders“ATMs at a German company, saying they were for an art project in the Netherlands, noted Europol and Eurojust.

The investigation led the police to Utrecht, in the Netherlands, where the suspects, aged 29 and 24, reportedly carried out a training center in this very widespread criminal specialty.

“The couple requested different models of ATMs and recorded tutorials on how to blow them up more efficiently.”Europol said in a statement.

In 2020, around 414 ATMs were flown across Germany, an increase of 19% from the previous year. German authorities estimate that around two-thirds of the suspects come from the Netherlands, where heightened security measures imposed by Dutch banks have caused criminal activity to shift to Germany.

“The cross-border investigation worked wonderfully”Osnabrück Police Chief Michael Massmann said. “It is a blow to the international scene which is destroying ATMs and their criminal activities. Thanks to our research, we have succeeded in reaching for the first time the people involved in the organization and logistics“He added.

(With information from AFP and AP)

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