Police are probing a possible link between a raid at a north-east cash handling depot and an ATM heist at an Aberdeenshire supermarket.
Thieves stole more than £65,000 from under the noses of staff at the Loomis premises on the Altens Industrial Estate in Aberdeen.
At least three people are believed to have planned the raid – and were captured on CCTV gathered in the Thistle Hotel car park in stolen cars.
The vehicles – a blue Mini, a white Land Rover Freelander and a black Hyundai X35 – were abandoned in Altens and Cove after the theft.
Last night, a police spokesman said officers were “keeping an open mind” as they investigated the Loomis theft.
They refused to rule out a link to a £10,000 cash machine raid at the Morrisons store in Banchory on January 21.
Thieves smashed their way into the shop, took the money from two ATMs, and are believed to have fled in a stolen Land Rover Defender.
Police in the north-east collaborated with officers on Merseyside as they investigated the Banchory incident.
Detectives from the English force are hunting two men wanted in connection with ATM cash machines raids at supermarkets.
Adam Murphy and Andrew White are wanted for conspiracy to cause explosions at ATMs and break-ins to banks and shops in 2013.
Murphy, 29, is thought to be in Scotland.
Detective Inspector Brian Geddes described the Loomis raiders as an “organised group of people”, but would not reveal where the cars they used had been stolen from.
He said: “I can’t go into the method they used but they have come equipped to come into a premises like this. No weapons were involved, no threats made.”
It is believed one member of the Loomis gang broke the premises in Souterhead Road on Thursday evening while three employees were in the building.