With 25 successful ATM bomb attacks in Switzerland, the year 2024 marks a record. All techniques combined (including the use of gas, break-ins and electrical manipulation), we are still far from the years 2019 and 2022, during which 56 and 57 attacks, respectively, were recorded by the Federal Police Office , compared to 44 this year. However, explosive attacks have been on the rise for two to three years, observes the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPC), responsible for cases in which this method of operation is used.
In the Jura, three attacks took place in May: on the 3rd against a BCJ aircraft in Noirmont and on the 20th, almost simultaneously, in Alle (BCJ) and Porrentruy (Postomat). As the investigation is still ongoing, the OAG does not comment on these cases. However, he emphasizes that he is in possession of clues that there are links between different robberies.
Criminal proceedings for around a hundred cases
“The perpetrators often act across cantonal and national borders. Conducting the procedure therefore takes a lot of time and resources,” the OAG tells us, referring to international cooperation. He specifies that he is currently carrying out criminal proceedings concerning around a hundred cases and has successfully defended several charges before the courts in this area, obtaining judgments. In addition, thirteen people were arrested in Strasbourg on September 6. French, Dutch and Russians aged 21 to 28 are suspected of having robbed ATMs in Switzerland, France and Germany for hundreds of thousands of francs in loot. They are linked to around ten attacks in our country.
Four ATMs soon installed
In a press release published in June, the BCJ informed of the closure, the following month, of its agencies in Alle and Noirmont, as well as those in Courgenay and Courrendlin. She also announced that the ATMs in these four localities would be moved outside of residential areas.
“We have not yet defined the locations of their installation,” explains Qendresa Dabiqaj, member of the management of the BCJ, referring to an investigation by February 2025. They will be installed at a sufficient distance from homes, in drive or at walking ATMs, in a parking lot for example, but always on busy roads.” In total, the cantonal bank has 16 devices, not counting those which will be installed next year, between the three districts of the canton and the town of Moutier. In addition, there are six staffed points of sale and five self-service areas accessible from 5 a.m. to midnight.
Swiss
