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That is the moment balaclava-clad robbers carrying assault rifles blow up an armoured van in a shocking raid on the Italian motorway.
The gang, wearing matching white overalls, brought the convoy to a stop with a burning lorry to dam their escape on the State Road 613 in Puglia on Monday.
Heavily armed men, believed to be from the Foggia area, used a blue Alfa Romeo with flashing lights to idiot the guards into believing they were there to escort the armoured van to safety.
But then they put a bomb on the back of the white van and set it off in a bid to get into the loot inside.
Bullets flew because the gangsters got caught by police in a shootout filmed by motorists.
One round pierced a police automotive’s windscreen.
Officers managed to fend off the gang attacking the van belonging to security firm Battistolli, who commonly transports luxury watches.
The gangsters hijacked cars from passing motorists to make their escape.
Detectives chasing an Alfa Romeo at high speed found the automotive abandoned within the countryside and a person attempting to make his escape.
He was arrested together with one other gang member who had also tried to flee on foot.
There have been no injuries reported within the raid.
The Puglia regional secretary general of Un Arma, Nicola Magno said: ‘Once more, the Carabinieri found themselves on the front lines of a particularly violent and organised criminal act.
‘The undeniable fact that a patrol was hit by gunfire demonstrates the high level of risk to which our officers are exposed every day. It is barely due to the professionalism, composure, and sense of duty of our colleagues that today we aren’t talking a couple of tragedy.’
‘The Carabinieri are working courageously to make sure the protection of residents, but they can’t be left alone within the face of increasingly complex and dangerous operational scenarios.’
‘We demand greater protection,’ the local policing union added, ‘concrete investments in resources, training, and security measures. It is important to adapt operational and regulatory tools to the present criminal environment, which is increasingly aggressive and militarised. Citizen safety inevitably is dependent upon the protection of the Carabinieri.
‘We cannot wait for injuries or victims to intervene. We’d like immediate, structured, and lasting responses to guard those that wear the uniform on daily basis.’
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