A banged-up criminal associate, a leaflet retrieved from a stolen car and a McDonalds breakfast proved key in helping police rumble the well-oiled operation.
The wall fell in on the racket after two members were caught using a stolen car when they stopped off for a meal at the Arbroath branch of the fast-food restaurant after a botched raid in Carnoustie in February.
But not before their crime spree had taken them across the country, raking in hundreds of thousands of pounds.
To hide from police, the group used high-powered stolen cars which were then driven up ramps into the back of a lorry.
It also contained fuel supplies to avoid petrol station visits and hammocks for the offenders to sleep in.
Some also posed as tourists, hiding cash in a campervan and spending two or more days at a time waiting for police activity to die down.
Aberdeen-based Detective Chief Inspector Alex Dowall, who was one of around 100 Police Scotland officers working on the case, lifted the lid on the tricks the crooks pulled to try and throw officers off the scent.
He said: “Robin Vaughan (a Liverpool-based criminal convicted of another ATM theft) was a name that came to our attention. We were aware that one of the White brothers was his associate, and that he had been subject of a similar investigation.
“In May 2015 there was a theft of a high powered Audi in Aberdeen. The day after it was stolen, a gas attack happened in Swindon.
“When a thorough search of the area was done, a leaflet was found in the car park that had been in the Audi that was taken the night before.
“That was one of the first connections we were able to make.
“We were aware from the crime in Newtonhill that they used high-powered cars to get away. But what we also found out was that they were using a campervan. They would take in a couple of days and travel back later when the initial response had died down.
“The HGV was used to hide the Audi.”
He added: “The communities that were targeted by this group are safe places to live and not exposed to crimes of such a serious, dangerous and crude nature. The impact they had on the people who live within them cannot be underestimated.”
