Eight people were arrested by officers from the Foggia police station on charges of criminal conspiracy aimed at aggravated theft from Postamat and ATMs, robbery, theft from commercial establishments, possession of weapons and the manufacture of artisanal products, the so-called ‘marmotte’ . These devices, actual shovels loaded with explosive material, have a destructive potential similar to that of explosive devices and weapons of war, both in terms of the quantity used and the packaging methods.
As reported Foggia Today the investigations were coordinated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Foggia. Approximately 80 policemen were employed in the executive phase in Cerignola, belonging to the flying squad of the Foggia police headquarters and to other flying squads made available by the central operational service of the central anti-crime directorate of the public security department, at the public security police station of Cerignola, to the crime prevention departments, the forensic police and the police dog handlers. The investigation, started in February, started from some robberies carried out with the use of weapons, which caused strong social alarm in the Cerignola community and caused considerable damage to several commercial establishments. The flying squad and the police station have identified the alleged members of the criminal group, specialized in thefts from ATMs of credit companies, also operating outside the province of Foggia, in Basilicata, Campania and Abruzzo.
The investigations revealed that the suspects carefully studied the areas of interest, the routes to follow, the escape routes and the positioning of the city’s video surveillance cameras before acting. They used powerful and fast cars, often stolen or rented, to quickly escape from crime scenes. The goods stolen from the shops, such as “scratch cards” and tobacco, were then resold by them.
As regards the thefts from ATMs, the investigations have reconstructed that the alleged bandits, with their faces covered and armed, used homemade explosive devices (marmots) to access the money deposits, causing extensive damage to the buildings. After taking the money, to avoid being reached by the police, the suspects used spiked bands which they threw to the ground, putting the policemen’s safety at risk. During the investigation, several rudimentary devices, wigs, burglary tools and approximately 11 kilograms of explosives were seized. The recovered stolen cars were returned to their rightful owners.
The proceeding is currently in the preliminary investigation phase and, after the execution of the precautionary measure which took place today, the measure will have to be subjected to scrutiny by the investigating judge for its validation.
