A suspect arrested at Cape Town International Airport may be linked to the recent spate of ATM bombings in the city.
|||Police are investigating whether a suspect arrested at Cape Town International Airport on Monday on suspicion of ATM-related crimes can be linked to the recent spate of ATM bombings in the city.
The arrest was a joint effort involving the police, the Hawks and the US Secret Service.
The suspect was found in possession of five skimming devices, seven identity documents, 17 bank cards and six flash drives, all of which were confiscated as evidence.
Police spokesman Captain Frederick van Wyk said the suspect appeared in court on Thursday, but the case was postponed for further investigation.
He confirmed they were also investigating whether the suspect could be linked to the recent spate of ATM bombings.
Earlier, police spokesman
Warrant Officer November Filander told Weekend Argus the bombings had become a major concern for local police.
There had been six ATM bombings in Cape Town in less than three weeks, with the most recent two in Ottery and Delft in the early hours of February 06.
Filander said the suspects targeted ATMs in isolated areas. “We believe they monitor the area before their attack, which occurs mostly between 2am and 5am.”
He said that the suspects were probably part of a well organised unit, and that police were investigating whether the incidents were linked.
During the same period in 2011, there was only one ATM bombing in Cape Town.
Kalyani Pillay, chief executive at the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric), said the industry was extremely concerned about the use of “excessive force”, particularly dangerous weapons.
But she added that Sabric, the police and other industry roleplayers had been able to make some key arrests linked to ATM attacks last year.
Pillay said collateral damage to infrastructure, including repairs and replacements, could range from R50 000 to R300 000, depending on the type of ATM machine and its location.
“But the threat to human lives is more concerning,” she said.
“The banks and other roleplayers will continue to devise security measures to minimise the occurrence of this crime trend, and the industry will continue to support law enforcement activities in this regard.”
For security reasons, banks could not divulge the sums of cash generally available in ATMs.
Christo Vey, head of Absa’s digital banking services, said that when ATMs were bombed, the bank was responsible for repairing and replacing the ATMs, and the building owner was responsible for building repair costs. - Weekend Argus