"Hands up, this is a robbery!" - that was once. Modern day bank robbers come quietly in the middle of the night, armed with explosives. More and more ATMs in the Southwest are being blown up. Strobl sees the manufacturers as having an obligation.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - Criminals have recently blown up more ATMs in Baden-Württemberg. This was announced by the Ministry of the Interior of the German Press Agency in Stuttgart on request. The authority speaks of a mid-double-digit number of ATMs blown up in 2022, the final figures would not be published until spring. But more ATMs were blown up than in the previous year, when the police recorded 24 such explosions. The perpetrators stole cash worth more than one million euros in 2022.
According to the ministry, the blowing up of ATMs has almost completely replaced the classic bank robbery in recent years. Organized gangs are the main cause of crime. Perpetrators acted increasingly ruthlessly and unscrupulously. The police also reports an "increased extent of destruction of the crime scenes".
"The perpetrators ruthlessly blast their way to the money, risk the lives of bystanders and destroy buildings," Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) told dpa. He called on the companies to use so-called coloring and gluing systems and fogging technology to make cash unusable in the event of an explosion. ATM operators and manufacturers would have to follow suit here, said Strobl. "If this does not happen on a voluntary basis, the manufacturers and operators of the ATMs will be legally obliged to implement suitable protective measures."
