The Federal Criminal Police Office (BK) responded by forming the "SOKO Bankomat". There had been attacks on ATMs before, but the current groups of perpetrators operate "more simply, inconspicuously, and faster," explained SOKO leader Dieter Csefan in an interview with the APA - and they presumably originate from the Netherlands.

The Federal Criminal Police Office now wants to show these perpetrators "that there is no place for this crime in Austria" and for that, they need the "banks as close partners, because only together can the phenomenon be combated." This has already been successful in the Netherlands, Csefan recalled, which is also the reason why the groups have now moved, among other places, to the German-speaking area. Now Austrian banks are also upgrading - this has already happened in part. A challenge is that the explosions no longer occur only in border areas but also in urban areas, which naturally makes preventive containment more difficult.

New Series of ATM Explosions in Austria

It is often reported in the media that the Moroccan Mafia ("Mocro-Mafia") is behind it, according to the head of the department for combating organized and general crime at the BK. However, international findings show that while members of these criminal organizations often have a migration background, this is not exclusively the case. "The group is estimated to have around 1,000 members, which are further subdivided into small groups," said Csefan, the latter can consist of 20 to 100 people. The members are trained in the Netherlands and travel from there across Europe to commit corresponding acts. Such as the group of perpetrators who allegedly committed burglaries and an ATM explosion in Lower Austria in 2023. There were three Dutchmen who received non-final prison sentences of up to nine years at the Regional Court Wiener Neustadt last October. However, one of them, a 29-year-old, managed to escape from the Wiener Neustadt correctional facility in February.

ATM Crimes: Pyrotechnics and "Hit and Run" Tactics

In previous annual reports, 2018 was the peak year for ATM crimes in Austria. There were 59 attacks on ATMs at that time, according to Csefan. But back then, ATMs were still being chained and ripped out of foyers. Meanwhile, the perpetrators are using pyrotechnics and a "hit and run" tactic: "The perpetrators use high-powered vehicles with 700 to 800 horsepower on their escape," reports Csefan, even a powerful Audi RS6, which is already equipped with 560 horsepower in its original form, gets further tuning, and with these cars, they speed away at over 200 km/h even in urban areas. To be on the safe side, the vehicle occupants are also equipped with lasers to blind any pursuers. It is not yet clear whether the perpetrators then remain in the country or immediately flee abroad. "From car theft, we know about hiding in the nearby area," said Csefan - they continue driving in one to two days, "when the search pressure has subsided."

The approach of the perpetrator groups is overall highly professional, as Csefan's explanations show: They operate in a division of labor, it is assumed that logisticians scout out escape routes in advance, the executing perpetrators would wear overalls, be masked, and the leaving of DNA traces is prevented with adhesive tapes. How many groups and their mostly early 20s members are actually active in Austria now still needs to be clarified by the "SOKO Bankomat," as Csefan points out that there have already been copycats. For this purpose, contact persons from the individual affected state criminal police offices have been included in the special commission, which has been active since March 1.

SOKO Goal: Complete Picture of the Austrian Situation

The goal is to "create consolidated data and a complete picture of the Austrian situation" - not least to be able to share the findings with international partners and thus recognize cross-border groups. "The most important thing is that law enforcement agencies work shoulder to shoulder. And that it works, was seen last year," said Csefan, referring to an arrest in July 2024 in the Czech Republic in connection with three ATM coups in Lower Austria - this too was a Dutch citizen.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.