The urban-myth that Multibanco (ATM) machines indelibly dye their notes rendering them useless when raided went up in smoke in the early hours of Sunday morning in an Albufeira park.
Thieves took advantage of the sleeping town to skillfully detonate explosives so that they were successfully able to plunder the contents of a machine housed in an ornamental copy of a traditional Algarve chimney.
Many tens of thousands of (unstained) euros are reported to be missing.
Says tabloid Correio da Manhã, the machine had only been replenished with notes the night before.
The attack appears to have been carefully planned.
Locals who asked to remain anonymous told CM that a CCTV camera focused on the machine had been “turned round a few days previously” so that any footage recorded on them will likely be useless for investigators.
GNR police were “the first on the scene”, adds the paper, while residents round the little park in Rua Alexandre O’Neill, Montechoro, were all rattled by the apparent huge sound of the explosion.
PJ police are now investigating.
