ATM bomb gang members blow themselves up during test run

The Hague: Police in the Netherlands and Germany caught a criminal group that created video lessons on how to bomb cash machines. A trial run at an illegal training camp for explosives attacks against ATMs in the Dutch city of Utrecht went awry, killing one suspect and injuring another, the EU’s police agency Europol said onThursday.

According to the report, police made nine arrests during an 18-month investigation targeting the gang. The group is linked to at least 15 ATM explosions throughout Germany, resulting in losses of 2.15 million euros ($2.5 million).

‘The criminals were making video tutorials which were given in person to other criminals. The main suspect, a 29-year-old, blew himself up when filming a tutorial video. His accomplice, a 24-year-old, was seriously injured and taken into custody,’ a Europol spokeswoman said.

The explosion occurred in September 2020. As per Europol and its sister judicial agency Eurojust, the police hunt began after authorities in Osnabruck, Germany, discovered strange orders of ATM machines from a German business. Surveillance led police to Utrecht, Netherlands, where the 29-year-old and 24-year-old accused were reportedly running the training centre.

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The EU agencies said that the two were acquiring various ATM models and filming lessons on how to blow them up the most efficiently. The cash machines were blasted open with improvised explosive devices, putting residents and passersby in grave danger.

On Tuesday, Dutch police, with the assistance of Europol, detained three persons and searched seven houses in the Utrecht, Amsterdam and The Hague areas. Those three accused will be sent to Germany for extradition. The remaining six were apprehended in the Netherlands over the past year. Attacks against ATMs have become a increasing issue across Europe, Europol said.