Gardai warn of risk to ATM machines

Financial institutions should examine how they can improve security around ATM machines and refine the manner in which money is delivered to them for reloading, the head of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI) has said.

Chief Supt Martin Donnellan said banks and the public needed to be vigilant if a series of armed robberies in recent months targeting ATM machines was to be stopped.

"In some countries they have security vans that reverse into an ATM and the money can be loaded without the need for staff to even get out of the van. It may be time to have a look at that here. We'd also be calling on banks to have security around the ATMs. We particularly want good-quality CCTV cameras at the sites.

"We'd also be appealing to people to put away their car keys at night. In the latest robberies most of the cars used have been stolen during burglaries on houses. Cars used in Dublin robberies are being taken from as far away as Clare and Offaly. A lot of the firearms that have been used have also been stolen. So anybody with a gun should keep it securely locked away and it should be stripped down a bit when it is stored."

Supt Donnellan is co-ordinating Operation Delivery in an effort to target known gangs suspected of involvement in 38 armed robberies so far this year. This compares with 34 last year and 33 in 2002.

Some 25 detectives from NBCI and the Emergency Response Unit, backed by local gardaí, have placed suspects under surveillance as part of Operation Delivery. Eight people were arrested last week in west Dublin and a file has been sent to the DPP. More arrests are expected.

Supt Donnellan said in recent years armed gangs had targeted building societies and later pharmacies, for both money and drugs. The latest "trend" of raids on ATM machines had arisen because of the proliferation of the machines. While two Dublin gangs were suspected of involvement in the more high-profile recent raids, many other groups have been involved in this year's robberies.

In the latest raid, last Monday, some €500,000 was stolen from an ATM and a van at a post office in Bettystown, Co Meath, while it was being loaded. A similar sum was taken by armed and masked raiders in Belfield in May.

An estimated €250,000 was taken at a petrol station on the old Dublin-Belfast road near Swords, also in May. In February about €500,000 was stolen in three raids in Maynooth, Cornelscourt and Castleknock. Masked and armed men held up staff delivering cash to machines during those three robberies.