Scenes resembling action movies were recorded on Monday morning on a highway in southern Italy, where a group of masked robbers attacked and blew up an armored vehicle in the middle of the road after blocking traffic with vehicles camouflaged as police cars.

The incident took place on the 613 motorway, which connects the cities of Lecce and Brindisi. Footage published by Italian media shows the moment when the robbers stop the armored vehicle, which belonged to the Battistolli security company (BTV), and then set off an explosion to open it. According to reports, the perpetrators used cars with false warning lights to make them look like police vehicles and deceive the drivers of the armored vehicle. After the explosion, the robbers quickly fled the scene.

Police forces immediately launched a large-scale search operation. A short time later, one of the vehicles used in the robbery, an Alfa Romeo, was found abandoned on a rural road. Nearby, police arrested a hooded man who was unarmed. A second man, also hooded, was later arrested as he attempted to flee the area on foot. Near the scene of the arrests, authorities also found a jeep, which was suspected of being used as an escape vehicle by the robbers. Meanwhile, the search for two other robbers continues, while police do not rule out the possibility that the criminal group consisted of more than four people. Investigations are ongoing to identify all those involved and to fully elucidate the dynamics of the spectacular attack.

Un van portavalori è stato assaltato sulla statale 613, la superstrada che collega Lecce a Brindisi, all'altezza di Tuturano. Ci sarebbe stato un conflitto a fuoco con i carabinieri. Non risulta che ci siano feriti. In the video shared by Claudio Stefanazzi, deputy del... pic.twitter.com/F62VbFTLer

- Repubblica (@repubblica) February 9, 2026