They have manufactured devices comparable to weapons of war given their destructive offensive scope. These homemade artefacts, called “marmots”, loaded at the end with explosive material, were used to commit a series of thefts… explosives.
Now the gang, made up of eight members, has been captured and defeated by the police, who have carried out an arrest order issued by the Foggia prosecutor’s office. The suspects are accused of criminal conspiracy aimed at committing aggravated thefts from post office and ATM machinesrobberies and attacks on commercial businesses, possession of weapons and manufacturing of weapons.
Approximately 80 officers were employed in Cerignola (Fg) in the executive phase, belonging to the Foggia Flying Squad and other Flying Squads made available by the central operational anti-crime service of the Department of Public Security, to the Cerignola police station, to the departments Crime Prevention, forensics and dog lovers. The investigation, started in February, began after some robberies carried out with the use of weapons, which “caused strong social alarm in the community” and “caused considerable damage to various commercial activities”, highlights a note.
The investigations made it possible to identify the members of the association, who carried out the thefts from the ATMs of credit companies not only in the province of Foggia but also in Basilicata, Campania and Abruzzo.
The suspects – this is the gang’s modus operandi – before acting carefully studied the areas of interest, the routes to follow, the escape routes and the positioning of the video surveillance cameras. According to what emerged, the same people used powerful and fast cars, often stolen or rented, to escape from the site of the raid as quickly as possible. The goods stolen from the shops, in particular scratch cards and tobacco, were resold.
Regarding thefts from ATMsHowever, the investigations made it possible to reconstruct how the criminals, with distorted faces and armed, used the devices made by them (the so-called marmots) to access the money deposit, causing powerful explosions and extensive damage to the buildings. After having taken possession of the cash, in order not to be reached by the police forces, the suspects allegedly used spiked bands which they threw to the ground, “jeopardizing the safety of the police who should have chased them”, it is highlighted.
During the investigations, several rudimentary devices, wigs, burglary tools and approximately 11 kilos of explosives were seized. The stolen cars, ready to be used, were recovered and returned to their owners. 21 June. 2024
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