Tiffs dey explode ATMs for Germany as cross-border crime dey increase

Inside one Germany town of Ratingen, ATM machines dey explode and dis don become hot-button topic.

Last month two cash machines blow up on di same day in di morning, for branches of Santander SAN.MC and Deutsche Bank DBKGn.DE wey dey across di street from each other close to di Duesseldorf suburb main square.

One year ago, pipo wey dey live for di flats wey dey up above Santander bin go court to try to make di bank remove di ATM machines sake of fear for dia safety say tiffs fit come raid dem, but dem no succeed.

For Germany, tiff dey blow up ATM machines upanda on di average of more dan one machine par day.

Attacks don increase pass 40% since 2019, according to Germany interior ministry, and investigators say two tins n aim dey cause di increase.

Europe biggest economy get 53,000 ATM machines, a very high number wey show say German pipo prefer cash instead of bank cards.

Di kontri dey also boast of plenty extensive network of highways, or Autobahns, and on most of am dem no dey enforce speed limit.

Ratingen dey just 70km from di Netherlands border, and investigators say gangs from di Netherlands na di main tiffs wey dey attack di cash machines, wey dey make glass fly, dey cause front of buildings to crumble and money cartridges to crack open.

Raiders don get away wit nearly 20 million euros ($22.1 million) for 2021, wen dem record 392 ATM explosions, di number rise to 496 for 2022.

Police for North Rhine-Westphalia, wia Ratingen dey, and wey don sure most of di attacks, don record 47 incidents so far for 2023,e pass last year rate.

Dutch raiders

Meanwhile di rate of ATM attackers dey fall for di Netherlands, part of di reason na due to security measures like glue wey dey make block of cash inside di ATM machines dey unusable, Dutch police say.

So Dutch cash machine raiders dey now cross border enta Germany and, German police estimate say, na dem carry out between 70% to 80% of attacks for Germany since 2018.

Dutch police dey suspect around 500 men dey responsible, and dem dey work wit groups wey dey change every time as new recruits dey replace di ones wey dem catch.

Goment lawyers for Frankfurt bin charge six Dutch citizens wit causing explosions, stealing and property damage dis week.

Ratingen police dey investigate possible Dutch connection for last month twin raid too, as dem identify one small motor wey speed pass from wia di crime happunn to one nearby Autobahn.

On Thursday, nearly a month afta di attacks, Santander frontage still dey covered wit board.

Deutsche Bank sign was still dey damaged, and one sign ask for customers understanding say di ATMs dey out of order as e still dey under repair.

For Germany, roughly 60% of everyday buying and selling dem dey pay wit cash, according to one Bundesbank study wey find out say Germans, on average, dey withdraw more than 6,600 euros par year mainly form cash machines.

Germany dey also work wit officials for Belgium and France and wit Europol to fight di cash machine crime wave.

Di partner authorities no respond to requests for comment.

As e be say ATM raids dey put lives for danger, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser beg banks dis week make dem step up safety measures for ATMs.

Both Santander and Deutsche say dia priority na safety and dem dey continuously improve ATM security, but banks inside Germany dey reluctant to adopt blanket measures, instead dem dey campaign for case-by-case approach depending on individual security risk.

One tok tok pesin for Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft, wey be di umbrella lobby group for di kontri financial institutions, say: "Different locations dey come wit different risks. For now e no get one-size-fit-all solution."