After three out of four quarters, the number of explosive attacks on ATMs in North Rhine-Westphalia was significantly higher than in the previous year. However, there are no signs of a multiplication of attacks as at the beginning of the year.
Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - The number of explosive attacks on ATMs has increased significantly in North Rhine-Westphalia this year. While 87 cases were registered after the first three quarters of the previous year, this year by the end of September there were already 125 such attacks, as the State Criminal Police Office in Düsseldorf announced at the request of the German Press Agency. This corresponds to an increase of a good 30 percent.
In the first quarter of this year, the number of blasts had more than tripled compared to the same period last year. After that, development flattened out. For the first half of the year, the damage was estimated at 10.7 million euros.
The number of ATM blasts last year totaled 151 cases. In the record year 2020, 176 explosive attacks were counted.
According to the NRW Ministry of the Interior, a scene of 400 to 500 people from the metropolitan areas of Utrecht, Amsterdam and Rotterdam is behind most of the crimes that could be cleared up.
The suspects are mostly men between the ages of 18 and 40 with Dutch or Moroccan nationality. Eastern European and German suspects are responsible for a smaller proportion. Since 2020, 72 suspected ATM bombers have been arrested.
The police recommends that the financial institutions keep the machines locked at night, install fogging systems and prepare the cash amounts in the machines in such a way that they are dyed and glued in the event of an explosion.
