Foggia: 8 suspects arrested for ATM robberies with explosives in Puglia, Campania, Basilicata, Lombardy and Piedmont.

The Carabinieri of the Provincial Command of Foggia have executed the coercive measure, ordered by the Judge for Preliminary Investigations of Foggia, of precautionary custody in prison against 8 suspects, accused to varying degrees of criminal association aimed at aggravated thefts through the use of explosive material, violation of the law on weapons, receiving stolen goods and money laundering.

The investigations, started in December 2023 following repeated thefts carried out using explosives to damage ATMs in order to withdraw the money stored there, which took place throughout the country, would have allowed the identification of a criminal association, based in the province of Foggia, dedicated to the commission of aggravated thefts at credit, banking and postal institutions, carried out using home-made devices – so-called “marmots”, similar in characteristics and composition to weapons of war – used to damage safes connected to automatic withdrawal devices and steal the money stored therein.

According to the reconstruction carried out by the Foggia Public Prosecutor's Office and the Foggia Carabinieri, the modus operandi of the criminal gang involved the use of high-powered cars stolen or with cloned license plates for travel and the use of prepaid credit cards – provided by one of the suspects and registered to foreigners – inserted into the “slots” of the ATMs to ensure their opening and allow the subsequent introduction of the “marmot”.

The organization would have benefited from specific professional skills and expertise - in relation to the manufacture of homemade explosive devices and the possession of knowledge on the operating mechanisms of ATMs - and from careful planning, with the pre-ordained assignment of the roles that each suspect would have to play during the assaults (drivers, lookouts, couriers, executors with operational and logistical tasks). During the investigations, the method with which the stolen money, stained by the anti-theft devices of the ATMs, was cleaned and recycled and the methods of dividing the proceeds would have been ascertained, which included, among other things, a pre-established price list for the participants and the payment of sums of money in the event of a successful outcome of the robbery.

The request for the precautionary measure is justified by the need to stem the repetition of crimes, as highlighted by an analysis activity that involved more than 80 aggravated thefts with explosives to the detriment of banks and post offices committed since the end of 2023 throughout the national territory, allowing us to outline the responsibility of the suspects - within the scope of investigations still underway - in relation to 17 assaults – which would have generated a total of approximately 290.000,00 euros – carried out between July and September 2024 in Puglia (in the provinces of Foggia and Bari), Piedmont (in the province of Turin, where an accused person who acted as an organizational and logistical link with that territory permanently resides), Campania (in the province of Avellino), Lombardy (in the provinces of Pavia and Milano) and Basilicata (in the province of Potenza).

During searches carried out at the same time as the measure was carried out, numerous identity documents, rechargeable credit cards, bills – some of which were “stained” or reasonably subjected to stain removal treatment – ​​31 12 and 7,65 gauge cartridges, 3 cars, 3 vehicle license plates, 261 firecrackers, 2,20 metres of “marmot” fuse and 4 valuable watches.