Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) - The number of ATM demolitions in Hesse is declining. In the current year there have been 36 cases of machine blasting, the Interior Ministry said at the request of the German Press Agency in Wiesbaden. In the same period last year, 47 cases were registered. The theft amount has fallen by around 50 percent and is currently around 1.2 million euros in the current year 2022. In addition, there would be property damage of more than 4.3 million euros.
Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU) warned against these criminals despite the decline in the number of cases and the amount of theft: "Whether in residential buildings, in an amusement park or in a shopping center - criminals now stop at nothing to blow up an ATM." The perpetrators mainly used highly dangerous solid explosives, which destroyed entire branches and ruthlessly endangered the lives of uninvolved residents and bank customers.
According to police findings, regional and national perpetrators or groups of perpetrators, most of whom came from the Netherlands, acted in Hesse, the interior minister reported. The preliminary investigations into ATM demolitions would be processed centrally by the public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt.
The Minister of the Interior referred to the "Allianz ATMs" founded with the banks in the spring. This has created an effective alliance between the banking industry and the police in Hesse. "I welcome the fact that the forthcoming conference of interior ministers in Munich has once again put the ATM demolitions on the agenda," explained Beuth. Hesse will be happy to contribute its experience in the fight against serious criminals who break ATMs.
