The Spanish National Police reported on Monday that they have arrested four suspects who stole crane trucks and obtained reflective vests so they can pose as construction workers doing road maintenance in Madrid and Guadalajara.
In fact they used the crane arm to knock down walls, unhook the ATM machines, load them on the trucks and drive off without witnesses paying much attention to what they were doing.
Authorities launched an investigation in September last year following the robbery of an ATM at a bank branch in Guadalajara, in eastern-central Spain.
In November, the group was stopped at a checkpoint as it was fleeing after one of the robberies. The truck driver ignored the officers’ instructions and crashed through the barricade. The members of the group abandoned the vehicle and ran away. Another vehicle used by the criminals as a backup attempted to run the officers over the agents when they ordered it to stop.
However, police managed to recover the stolen truck with the ATM machine on it. It contained euro banknotes worth US$107,000.
Authorities were able to identify the four suspects and locate their headquarters. During the raid officers seized reflective vests, ATM casings, money-counting machines, truck cranes, vehicles and tools for stealing vehicles.