Oct 16, 2011

$100,000 Stolen from Blasted Open ATM

Victimized ATM had been reloaded the night before

RECIFE, Pernambuco – Thieves blasted open an ATM in the early hours of Saturday in the town of Petrolina, in the interior of the state of Pernambuco. According to police, at least five men participated in the theft and managed to take more than R$100,000 (about U.S. $58,000) from the machine.

Theifs blasted open a Banco Itau ATM in Petrolina, Pernambuco

The ATM, belonging to Banco Itau and located inside a supermarket, was reloaded with cash on Friday night to accommodate the supermarket employees, who are payed on Saturdays. A surveillance camera located inside the supermarket recorded the assault on the cash-dispensing machine but police didn't release the images. No one was arrested.

This was the first assault of this type on an ATM in this semi-arid city of 282,000 in Brazil's Northeastern region. The Itinerant Tactical Support Group (GATI) of the local Military Police is investigating the robbery. “The action lasted about a minute and a half. We checked the damage to the machine and believe the gang used either dynamite or plastic explosives,” said Captain Marcondes Ferraz.

Blasting open ATMs to steel cash is common in other regions of Brazil. Over 100 ATMs have been blasted open in the Sao Paulo metropolitan area this year alone.

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Brazilian online news source for this article: O Globo

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