Photo: Surveillance footage of the van pulling out the ATM

Second Heritage Bank ATM to be jacked by thieves in less than a month

by Kristen Ku

LADYVILLE, Belize District, Thurs. Dec. 28, 2023

Using a technique almost identical to the methods used by the thieves who stole a Heritage Bank ATM from the Puma Gas Station on Fabers Road in late November, a group of robbers on Thursday morning, December 28, removed an ATM belonging to the same bank from a Ladyville compound at Mile 9 on the Philip Goldson Highway by pulling it away with a van.

The entire heist was captured by a nearby surveillance camera positioned at the entrance of the building at the U Mall compound and has made its rounds on social media. In the footage, a group of four robbers, all wearing hoodies, can be seen using cables to attach the ATM inside the building to a black van outside. They then instructed the driver to pull the machine out before proceeding to lift the machine up and into the back of the van.

In the aftermath of the heist, the pavement near the building was littered with pieces of the machine.

Notably, the U Mall is located only a stone’s throw away from the Ladyville Police Station, raising questions as to how the heist could have gone uninterrupted or unnoticed.

As previously mentioned, this robbery is just the most recent of a series of ATM thefts that have occurred in Belize in the last few years.

The most recent target was the Heritage Bank ATM at the Puma Gas Station near the Fabers Road roundabout in Belize City on November 30. Not only did the robbers break into the store and steal cash, but they similarly managed to haul away the entire ATM out of the building with the use of a van, into which the machine was then placed before being taken away.

Security footage from inside the gas station captured footage of three individuals, with faces covered by hooded tops, as they executed the theft.

On that same night, two attempted thefts of ATMs, both belonging to Heritage Bank, occurred — one in San Ignacio Town, Cayo District, and another in Roaring Creek. Though these ATMs were not stolen, they were left damaged and inoperable.

These incidents were still not the first time that ATMs have been stolen in Belize. Back in May of this year, a Heritage Bank ATM was stolen in Burrell Boom, and in December of last year, 2022, a Belize Bank ATM with over $100,000 was stolen in San Roman Village, in the Corozal District.

When AMANDALA reached out to Heritage Bank’s Managing Director, Steven Duncan, he briefly noted, “We’re changing how we do things. Customers will be affected, unfortunately.”

No charges have been filed in connection with these previous robberies, but police have said they are actively following leads in hopes of making arrests.