Nick Escuderos
Armed robbers posing as police officers blew up a security van on a highway in Italy.
The gang, wearing balaclavas to hide their identity, drove a dark blue Alfa Romeo with a blue light on the roof, the footage shows.
They initially blocked the highway with a truck that they set on fire, forcing the van to stop and preventing the police from quickly reaching the scene.
The robbers ran to the back of the security van and blew out the doors with explosives, sending up plumes of dark smoke.
The police arrived at the scene and exchanged shots with the assailants. It is unknown how much cash the robbers took.
The robbery was captured on video by passing drivers on their phones.
“Look, look, look, look… They’re stealing the van, look,” said one, who captured on video the moment the back of the security van flew off.
The robbery took place on Monday on a stretch of highway between the cities of Lecce and Brindisi, in the southern region of Apulia, popular with tourists during the northern summer months.
Members of the public called police to say they had seen two men fleeing the scene at high speed in an Alfa Romeo.
Police intercepted the car and arrested the two men near the town of Squinzano. The police are looking for the rest of the gang; About six men are believed to have participated in the raid.
Authorities closed a section of the highway in both directions while they carried out investigations.
The attackers are believed to come from Foggia, a town in Puglia, which has gained a notorious reputation for being the territory of armed gangs who regularly raid security vans.
Nicola Magno, general secretary of a police officers’ union, expressed “deep concern about the dangerous escalation of criminal activities and the risks faced daily by members of the Carabinieri” (the Italian police).
He said: “Once again, the carabinieri find themselves on the front line of an extremely violent and well-organized criminal action.
“The fact that a patrol car was targeted by gunfire shows the high level of risk to which our officers are exposed on a regular basis.
“Only thanks to the professionalism, serenity and sense of duty of our colleagues are we not talking about a tragedy.”
Police needed better vehicles, training and equipment to confront criminal gangs that are “increasingly aggressive and militarized,” he said.
It is the second assault of this type in a week. Last week, a gang of thieves held up an armored security van on a highway near Ortona, in the central region of Abruzzo.
To stop the truck, they fired shots, scattered nails on the ground and threw smoke bombs. They then used an explosive device to blow open the sides of the security van and reportedly made off with around 400,000 euros ($672,000) in cash.
The Telegraph, London
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