Gardai have advised owners of heavy machinery, particularly digger owners, to secure their vehicles when they’re not in use to prevent them from being used in ATM robberies.
The so-called “Digger Gang” have robbed a number of ATM machines in recent weeks from mainly rural towns and villages in counties around the border.
The robberies take roughly just 4 minutes to complete by using a digger to smash into the wall and steal the ATM machine.
Last week two more ATMs were stolen from Kells in County Meath.
Just a few weeks ago, thieves brazenly ripped yet another cash machine from a wall in Northern Ireland. The latest incident happened in the village of Dungiven, Co. Derry, in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The thieves use a crude but effective method to carry out the attacks. A digger, usually stolen from a nearby site, is used to tear down a wall and lift the ATM, which is then placed on a trailer.
This is the eight such incident so far this year. Authorities believe the same gang is behind all these robberies.
A member of the PSNI told <em>The Liberal</em>:
“We’re worried for communities that banks will see it as a better option to leave ATM machines on the inside of their buildings only and not have any access to the streets. We’re very concerned that more of these robberies will occur. We’re working in conjunction with An Gardai to catch these thieves.”
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