The thieves stopped all traffic on the motorway near Ortona in the Abruzzo region by blocking it with vehicles and then launched a lightning-fast attack on the CIT transport.
The robbers also used smoke bombs, scattered nails on the road to puncture tires, and fired at the armored personnel carrier.
Using explosives, the thieves opened the vehicle and the safe while the driver and guards were still in the vehicle, according to the Italian news agency Ansa.
Police are searching for the perpetrators, but it is unclear how many people participated in the robbery. No one was reportedly injured, but two people who inhaled smoke from the smoke bombs were treated at the scene.
