Months of ATM Heists Leave Brazilians Short on Cash

Brazilian police have arrested nearly 30 people in connection with a series of ATM heists that have left some poorer parts of Sao Paulo with scant access to cash. Five current or former police officers were arrested in yesterday's sting, and investigators suspect another two dozen police could be involved. Around 60 of the banking machines have been blown up, torched, or otherwise broken into in the Sao Paulo metropolitan area in recent months.

Residents in poorer areas of the city, where there are few if any bank branches, now have few means of getting cash, especially as businesses that kept ATM machines on their premises have gotten rid of them for fear of attracting heists. Police didn't say how much money has been stolen. (More Brazil stories.)