THE GARDA and the PSNI are continuing investigations on both sides of the Border into the latest ATM bank machine raids at the weekend in Co Cavan.
The robberies followed similar raids in the North, at Keady, Co Armagh, and Templepatrick, Co Antrim. Senior detectives on both sides of the Border have not ruled out terrorist links.
Gardaí have declined to say how much money was taken in the latest raids.
Over the weekend a massive air and ground search continued in the Border counties with the use of the Garda air support unit, following the early morning theft on Saturday by raiders at Cootehill, Co Cavan.
Two ATMs were targeted at the Bank of Ireland and the Ulster Bank. A mechanical digger, driven into the town on a low-loader, was used in the raids. The loader and digger were found partly burnt out at the scene.
Detectives said yesterday they believe there is a cross-Border link in the ongoing raids to a gang of republican dissidents.
Last week, an attempt to steal an ATM at Keady in Co Armagh failed when one of the walls in the premises collapsed and buried the machine in rubble.
A further ATM raid took place on Friday in Templepatrick, Co Antrim.
The ATM units which were taken in the latest raid in Co Cavan had special tracker devices, but it is believed links with the devices were “lost” a short time after the robbery.
A search continued yesterday across a wide area of counties Cavan and Monaghan. The Garda support unit backed up mobile Garda patrols on the ground for a time, and checkpoints were in operation on several cross-Border routes.
Similar raids this year included the theft of an ATM from the wall of a service station in Co Wexford in July. In June, raiders used mechanical diggers to remove ATMs in separate incidents in Co Kilkenny and Co Meath.