Authorities take urgent steps to stop cash truck heists 

The violent attack on a cash truck in Daillens on December 2 was seen as the last straw. Keystone

The local government in Switzerland’s western Vaud canton has announced “urgent measures” to try and curb a string of violent cash truck holdups thought to be organized from France.  

It says these have been agreed with transport and security firms, “in the absence of norms at the federal level”. Starting on Wednesday, cash trucks must be armoured vehicles of over 3.5 tonnes and may circulate only between 5am and 10pm. The vehicles must be equipped with a system that destroys the cash or blocks access in the case of a holdup, and must have a crew of at least two, including the driver. 

The Vaud government’s measures also include lowering the maximum amount of cash that can be carried to CHF10 million ($10 million). This brings it into line with other countries, notably France, it says in a press releaseExternal link (in French). 

At the request of transport firms, special conditions are also being introduced for filling cash machines and the tills of shops and businesses, as well as for the transport of valuable goods like jewellery, watches and works of art. Since Monday, Vaud police have also boosted their presence in the canton and at its borders as well as providing escorts for cash trucks. 

The cantonal government says it has taken these “strong measures to ensure the safety of citizens, cash transporters and police”. It says they are “preventive and dissuasive” and are meant to “make canton Vaud less attractive for the potential perpetrators of such attacks”. 

This comes in the wake of the latest cash truck heist that was seen as the last straw. At around 7.40pm on December 2, residents in the French-speaking village of Daillens, 10km north of Lausanne, witnessed two vehicles blocking the path of a money delivery van. Several people got out of the vehicles, threatened the van driver and colleague with guns, stole their load and set fire to three vehicles before driving off. The suspects have not yet been caught.  

This followed nearly a dozen violent money truck heists in western Switzerland since 2006, with three this year. Observers say the crux of the problem is that canton Vaud has become a hub for money transporter companies but that in Switzerland their activities have not been properly regulated, unlike in neighbouring countries like France.