Gang straps bomb to ATM worker: Is this a terrifying new trend?

The cash-in-transit industry is reeling from a weekend attack where an ATM maintenance officer was hijacked and then forced at gunpoint to wear a vest laced with nearly 2kg of explosives.

The attack on the SBV officers took place on Saturday morning near Macassar, Western Cape, as two of the company’s maintenance officers were about to open the ATM.

Sunday Times Daily has learnt from sources close to the investigation that investigators are now looking at whether the ATM was deliberately tampered with to set off an alarm, which would lead the maintenance officers to the machine to open it up and repair it.

Moments after arriving at the ATM, the officers were forced at gunpoint into a car that was driven off. Inside the vehicle the attackers fitted the explosive vest to the maintenance officer before returning to the cash machine, which Sunday Times Daily understands was emptied of all the money.

Footage posted to YouTube shows the moment the guard was freed from the device, with him running up an embankment alongside the N2 carrying the vest in one hand shortly after the bomb was disarmed.

This type of CIT attack is the first of its kind to occur in SA, with criminologists, cash-in-transit companies and police sources warning there is a real possibility of this becoming a deadly trend.

A source with knowledge of the police investigation said about 2kg of explosives was in the vest, “which would have been enough to blow the guard to smithereens and seriously injure anyone close by”.

“It’s the first time this has happened in SA. This is a very different way of threatening cash guards. It’s an incredibly vicious way to die.”

He said the bomb appeared to be rudimentary in design.

“While those behind the device appear to be amateurs in their design of the bomb. The fact that they drove around with the guard shows that they had confidence in what they had built.

“They would have known how dangerous it was and were prepared to drive around knowing what could happen to them if it detonated while they were inside the vehicle.”

He said the people who put the bomb together would have only needed basic bomb-making knowledge to design the device.

 “The design can easily be found on the internet”.

It’s the first time this has happened in SA. This is a very different way of threatening cash guards. It’s an incredibly vicious way to die.

The source said the investigation was focusing on a number of aspects around the bomb and its design, including the origin of the explosives.

“That is going to be crucial to solving this crime and stopping this incident from becoming a trend. Given the amount of cash heist gangs operating in SA, if this thing escalates there are definitely going to be people who are going to die.”

Criminologist Dr Hennie Lochner said the attack was a totally new tactic.

“It’s driven by improved security to cash vans.”

Lochner said the tactic meant CIT gangs could now use fewer members and force and still gain access to the same amount of cash.

He warned that news of the attack would spread quickly among CIT robbers, “which is alarming”.

Lochner cast doubt on whether there was anything that could be done to avert such an attack.

“This is what the Islamic State has been doing. The problem with an attack like this is that you can kill all the robbers on the scene, but the trigger man can be somewhere else, with a cellphone, and all he needs to do is make the call to the device and the bomb goes off.

“This is going to get a lot worse. What happens when these robbers start strapping explosives to civilians?”

SBV Group CEO Mark Barrett said they were working closely with the Cash-in-Transit Association of SA (Citasa).

On whether the attack was a new trend, he said it was too early to comment.

“We sincerely hope it is a one-off.”

Barrett said criminals continued to invent “new, brazen and more violent ways in an attempt to get to the money”.

Gareth Newham, head of Justice and Violence Prevention programme at the Institute for Security Studies, said such an attack would have required a lot of planning.

“It is not something that is easy to pull off. It potentially completely changes the dynamics of heists and how they are combated.

“What is worrying about this attack is that it shows that those behind these attacks are more than prepared to go to very extreme measures to get what they want.”

It is not something that is easy to pull off. It potentially completely changes the dynamics of heists and how they are combated.

Grant Clark, Citasa spokesperson, said the potentially new modus operandi posed a new level of threat to the CIT industry and the public.

“Already we have seen CIT gangs deploying new tactics, where they kidnap staff of cash management companies and their families to force them to reveal information on how money is moved and stored.

“But, this [the strapping of explosives to a guard] is a totally new development.”

He said it was imperative that intelligence gathering be improved.

“In the industry we are very good at reacting after an incident, but by then the vehicle is already bombed and the cash gone.

“We need to be far more proactive and stop such attacks before they happen.”

Albert Erasmus, IziCash CEO, said: “We as industry players need to know whether these gangs are shifting to a new modus operandi and what the industry, along with the police, should be doing to manage these types of situations.

“Previous attacks have always been carried out with a huge amount of force designed to cause maximum damage. This kind of attack though is far more psychological.

“Once you take someone hostage, you do not need all the explosives and force to get to your objective. You play on the emotions of guards who would want to save their colleague’s life.

“As an industry we will have to put our heads together and decide what action we need to take to handle the situation.”