Eight indicted for a series of explosive robberies in France, Germany and Switzerland

Eight men of French, Dutch and Russian nationality have been indicted as part of an investigation into a series of robberies using explosives committed in France, Germany and Switzerland.

On Friday, September 6, “13 people were arrested on the basis of a letter rogatory from the investigating judge of the Nancy Interregional Jurisdiction, in connection with a case involving a Dutch organized criminal group specializing in attacks on automatic teller machines (ATMs) using solid explosives,” the Nancy Jirs indicated in a press release on Monday, September 9 in the evening.

Of these 13 men, eight were brought before an investigating judge and charged at the end of their police custody. They are individuals of French, Dutch and Russian nationality aged between 21 and 28. Seven of them were placed in provisional detention.

“Investigations are continuing”

These arrests come after several months of investigation and collaboration between French, German and Swiss investigators. They are particularly suspected of being at the origin of ATM explosion in Strasbourglast July.

“These individuals were suspected of being linked to several similar attacks committed in Germany, Switzerland and France,” the court said.

The Jirs specifies that “investigations are continuing in France but also in the countries involved in order to determine, always in close collaboration, the precise roles of the people arrested”.

In France, the investigation management is entrusted to the Central Office for Itinerant Crime (OCLDI), the organized and specialized crime divisions (DCOS) of Strasbourg and Besançon with the support of the research and intervention brigade (BRI) of Strasbourg.