Europol: 18 arrested in series of strikes against cash machine robbers


Europol together with Dutch and German law enforcement authorities have taken decisive action against a Netherlands-based criminal group believed to be specialised in ATM robberies using explosives.

18 members of the highly specialised criminal group were arrested over a series of action days. The Dutch nationals allegedly had extensive experience in blowing up cash machines with solid explosives, causing at least EUR 1.5 million in damages and looted at least EUR 1.2 million, of which around EUR 290 000 could be seized so far. In total, EUR 360 000 in cash and over EUR 600 000 in cryptocurrencies were seized, along with gear and vehicles used for robberies. Investigators could link ATM attacks or related activities in Germany, Switzerland and France to this group.

Read more…
Source: Europol


Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletter
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • Nigeria: Troops intercept terrorists’ collaborator, recover N5.3m in Zamfara

    August 8, 2026

    Troops of Operation Fansan Yamma (OPFY) on a patrol near Maradun in Zamfara State have intercepted a 35-year-old terrorists’ collaborator, and recovered N5.302 million and mobile phone from him. “Preliminary interrogation showed the suspect was allegedly delivering the funds on behalf of a terrorist leader to another individual, Kasimu Garba, who was arrested at his residence. ...

  • Kenya: Man injured after suspected IED explodes in Mandera town

    August 7, 2026

    A 35-year-old man lost an arm after a suspected improvised explosive device exploded in his hands in Mandera Town on Friday evening, triggering a security response. The blast occurred at about 6:30pm in the Bula Buruburu area, near Holland Sports Ground, according to preliminary police reports and witnesses. Investigators suspect the man was carrying the device ...

  • Kenya: Six injured in suspected Al Shabaab IED attack in Mandera

    August 7, 2026

    At least six people were injured, one of them critically, after the vehicle they were travelling in struck a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) in what is suspected to be an Al Shabaab attack in Mandera County. The incident occurred at about 6 p.m. on Thursday near Odole Village in Elwak Sub-County, according to preliminary reports. The ...

  • Nigeria security forces rescue over 300 abducted people

    August 6, 2026

    At least 308 people abducted in different attacks in the northern part of Nigeria were rescued, the country’s president said Wednesday. Those rescued include 163 people abducted from Woro community in Kaiama area of Kwara state in February, and 145 people kidnapped mostly from Niger state, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu said in a statement. Details of the operation that freed ...

  • Military declares top ISWAP commanders wanted following intelligence from recovered devices

    August 6, 2026

    Military authorities have declared some senior commanders of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) wanted, following forensic analyses of electronic devices recovered during recent combat operations in the Lake Chad region of Borno State. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Mohammed Goni, the acting spokesperson for Operation Hadin Kai, a joint task force in the North-east, ...

  • Netherlands: Explosive found in garden of Rotterdam home

    August 4, 2026

    The police discovered an explosive in the garden of a home in Rotterdam on Monday evening. They cordoned off the area and called in the Ministry of Defense’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) unit to remove the device. The police responded to the home on De Voorde, in the Feijenoord district, after receiving a report of someone with a ...

  • Pakistan: Police across Balochistan on high alert following Kharan attack

    August 3, 2026

    Police have been placed on high alert across Balochistan following an attack on a police station and Counter-Terr­orism Department (CTD) offices in Kharan by armed men who entered the city late on Saturday night. Sources said the attackers stormed the city police station, ransacked official records and set the building on fire. They also ente­red the ...

  • Bangladesh: Locally made IED caused explosion that injured 3 of a family in Barishal

    August 3, 2026

    The explosion which injured three members of a family in Barishal’s Bakerganj upazila on Monday morning was caused by a locally made improvised explosive device (IED), said police. “Based on the preliminary examination, the bomb disposal unit confirmed that it was an improvised explosive device. It was locally made,” Barishal Superintendent of Police AZM Mostafizur Rahman ...

  • Pakistan: At least 14 people, including police officials, killed in suicide attack in Swat

    August 2, 2026

    At least 14 people, including police officials, were killed and at least 18 others injured in a suicide attack on Swat’s Kabal police station on Sunday, police and rescue officials said. According to the Swat District Police Officer (DPO) Umar Khan, the suicide bomber detonated explosives after police personnel attempted to stop and search him at ...

  • Pakistan: Two police personnel injured in IED blast near police vehicle in Peshawar

    August 2, 2026

    Two police personnel were injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast near a police mobile vehicle at Pir Zakori Bridge in Peshawar on Sunday, police said. According to police officials, the blast occurred close to the police mobile vehicle, injuring two personnel. After the incident, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Peshawar Dr Mian Saeed Ahmed ...

  • Colombia: Truck explodes outside police base, injuring 11 officers and killing a dog

    August 1, 2026

    Colombia’s government on Saturday blamed the nation’s largest remaining rebel group for an explosion outside a police base that injured 11 officers and killed a police dog. The attack took place early Saturday in Cucuta, a city along Colombia’s border with Venezuela, where drug gangs and rebel groups have long fought for the control of smuggling ...

  • Russia: Explosion at Moscow cafe kills three people, injures 15

    August 1, 2026

    An explosion blasted near a summer cafe in the center of Moscow killing three people and wounding 15, an Interior Ministry official said. “The Interior Ministry’s Moscow branch is working at the site of the incident. According to available information, an explosion occurred near a summer cafe at about 08:10 p.m. (05:10 p.m. GMT) today, as ...

  • Bangladesh: Police defuse ‘pressure cooker’ bomb in Ashulia

    July 31, 2026

    Police have recovered a specially constructed improvised explosive device (IED) from a travel bag left at a grocery shop in Ashulia, Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka. The device was later safely defused by the Bomb Disposal Unit of the police’s Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) Division. According to Ashulia police station, at around 9:30 pm ...

  • Netherlands: Manhunt after car carrying explosives crashes in police chase

    July 29, 2026

    Police are trying to trace the occupants of a car that crashed at high speed in Amsterdam while carrying high explosives, causing dozens of homes to be evacuated. The black BMW M1 was being pursued by Dutch police after their German colleagues spotted it at the scene of a cashpoint explosion in Fürth, Hessen, around 250km ...

  • India: Suspected IED destroys businessman’s SUV in Karnataka

    July 29, 2026

    A parked SUV was blown apart in a late-night explosion outside a bar in Karnataka’s Bagalkot district Sunday, with the police investigating whether an improvised explosive device (IED) was used after recovering ammonium nitrate traces and a piece of wiring from the spot. The blast occurred around 10.45 pm under a Mahindra XUV 300 belonging to ...

  • Ireland: Mystery surrounds identity of man killed by his own pipe bomb in Dublin hostel

    July 29, 2026

    A man killed when a pipe bomb he had made exploded in his room in a Dublin homeless hostel cannot be identified, two decades after his arrival in Ireland and more than two years since his death. The man, known as Igor Dmitrov, is believed to have been aged 34 when he died at the Depaul hostel ...

  • Philippines: IED exploded near the entrance of the Department of Justice; another IED ‘neutralised’

    July 27, 2026

    An improvised bomb exploded near the entrance of the Department of Justice (DOJ) hours before the start of President Marcos’ 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA) while an explosive device was safely disposed of after it was found along Diokno Boulevard where the Senate is located. In a statement, the DOJ confirmed the explosion at ...

  • Ireland: Controlled explosion carried out on grenade found in residential area in Co Galway

    July 27, 2026

    The army bomb disposal unit conducted a controlled explosion on a grenade in a residential area in Portumna, Co Galway this afternoon. Nearby residential properties on Abbey Street were evacuated as members of the Irish Defence Forces Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit carried out the procedure. No injuries or damage were caused. Gardaí confirmed that the incident involved ...

  • Germany: Berlin Pride terror attack suspect shot dead by police

    July 26, 2026

    The suspect in what German authorities described as an “Islamist terror attack” at Berlin’s Pride celebrations was shot dead by police following a major manhunt Sunday. At least one person was killed and 29 others injured in Saturday’s vehicle-ramming and stabbing attack at Tiergarten park, near the crowded LGBTQ+ event. The attack follows several incidents in recent ...

  • Pakistan: Bomb blast near Bajaur dam claims two lives

    July 26, 2026

    Two people were killed in a remote-controlled bomb explosion near Tali small dam in Salarzai tehsil of Bajaur tribal district on Saturday evening. According to police, unidentified persons had planted an improvised explosive device (IED) near the dam, falling in the limits of Salarzai police station. Local youth had gathered near the dam for refreshment when ...

  • Ireland: Sophisticated and ready to use car bomb intercepted in County Monaghan

    July 24, 2026

    The Garda Commissioner has described as “extremely significant” the discovery of a bomb in a car intercepted as it was being driven across the border to Northern Ireland. The car was stopped two days ago south of Carrickmacross in Co Monaghan as part of an operation by the Special Detective Unit, which was investigating dissident republican ...

  • Thailand: Five volunteer rangers killed in Narathiwat checkpoint attack

    July 23, 2026

    Five volunteer rangers were killed and two civilians, including a 10 year old boy, were injured after armed attackers opened fire and threw pipe bombs at the Bukit Sami checkpoint in Narathiwat on July 22. The attack took place at about 6.45pm, according to initial reports, six attackers carried out the assault before fleeing the scene. A day earlier, a car ...