Organised crime groups (OCGs) are thought to be using cash stolen from ATMs across Northern Ireland to fund other crimes like drug importation and money lending.
The PSNI said it is keeping an "open mind" as to what OCGs are involved in the 14 ATM theft attempts made since the start of this year.
Six of those 14 attempts have been successful, with one incident seeing £94,000 stolen from a cash machine in County Tyrone.
Read more: ATM attacks in Northern Ireland: PSNI detail "elements in common" in 12 incidents in 2023
Detective Superintendent Emma Neill spoke to Belfast Live and said that they were following up a number of lines of enquiry.
"We are treating them as a series of linked incidents but within that, there are very different clusters, different geographical areas and indeed different methodologies being used, different access points and different ways to go about attempting to steal cash from these ATMs," she said.
"So we're keeping an open mind in relation to the number of suspects involved in this, but we are looking at potentially a number of organised crime groups (OCGs) who are involved in this type of activity.
"We know through our work in Organised Crime that OCGs are involved in various different types of criminality.
"Everything from illegal money lending right the way through to drug supply and importation, so we'll be keeping an open mind in relation as to how this cash is going to be utilised."
For many business owners, the provision of an ATM is a service that attracts customers to their premises but also provides a vital resource in rural areas.
A business owner whose business was targeted in an ATM theft said it was no longer a case of simply using a digger as a blunt force way of getting access to ATMs.
"We came in that morning and our broadband line had been cut, our Lotto terminal line had been cut," he said.
"They're not so slow, they're cutting phone lines and anything they see as communication lines, they must have thought the lines for the Lotto machine were used for communication.
"They came round, you could see them on the cameras, one pops the head round and it's almost like 'right, let's go'.
"One blocks the carpark with whatever's handy, the other jumps up, cuts out lights and the other cuts out phone lines.
"It's all perfectly planned and executed."
The business owners aid that the cash machines themselves can house significant sums of money, which can make them a lucrative target.
"We were lucky enough in that ours was empty, it was due to be filled that morning but generally there could be up to £100,000 there," they said.
Another business owner affected by the ATM thefts said it had a knock-on effect for their customers.
"We only realised whenever our phone lines were cut, none of our phone lines were working that morning and then we saw that there were boards missing from the fence next to the ATM and that they'd obviously forced the door open," they said.
"It's a big inconvenience for the local community that rely on the cash, customers have been complaining.
"We've shops nearby and some of them only take cash and we're quite rural here.
"We're told it can take up to six weeks to get the ATM replaced and we're not the only ones that have been hit so there could be others looking and we could be at the bottom of the queue."
For another person affected by the series of audacious thefts, it posed the question of whether keeping an ATM on-site was going to be a long-term option.
"It just calls into question the whole viability of ATMs," they said.
"It's been challenged already as since coronavirus>Covid, the number of transactions going through ATMs has gone down, the number of people using cash has dwindled.
"So it's a challenge for the banks and in our case, the bank has to consider whether it's commercially viable to replace the ATM.
"In all honesty, there's a good chance this could be the demise of ATMs in rural communities.
"It's not my decision ultimately, it's the bank's machine and I just provide the space.
"It's at the bank's cost, the machine itself costs in the region of £40,000, then the cost of replenishing the cash and then the cost of the cash that was stolen, so all those factors collide."
The full list of ATM thefts and attempted thefts is below:
Feeny Road, Dungiven: February 7 – burglary
Mussenden Road, Articlave: February 15 – burglary
Ballygawley Road, Cabragh: February 24 – burglary
Dungannon Road, Portadown: March 3 - burglary
Cushendall Road, Ballymena: March 5 – attempted burglary
Roguery Road, Toome: March 5 – attempted burglary
Dunhill Road, Coleraine: March 7 – attempted burglary
Dromore Road, Drumharvey, Enniskillen: March 9 – attempted burglary
Main Street, Kells: March 10 – attempted burglary
Chapel Street, Poyntzpass: March 10 – burglary
Main Street, Derrylin: March 14 – attempted burglary
Main Street, Tempo: March 15 – burglary
Moy Road, Armagh: March 21 - enquiries ongoing
Killylea Road, Armagh: March 22 - enquiries ongoing
DS Neill urged business owners and the public to be on the lookout for any signs of further criminal activity in relation to ATMs.
"All of these attacks have happened in the hours of darkness in rural or semi-rural locations, during weekdays as well," she said.
"So I would call on all businesses to be really vigilant and to members of the public as well.
"There are so many ATM sites throughout Northern Ireland, dispersed all over the country, we can't police all of them all of the time.
"So I would ask that everybody is vigilant, watches out for any suspicious activity, reports it to the police if you hear any machinery or noises during the night in the hours of darkness, please let police know so we can investigate it further."
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