According to the Home Safety Observatory, summer is the main season for burglaries. 30% of home robberies would take place in July and August, but also in December. This year, many apartments have been victims of burglaries with acid, used to force the locks.
Even the locks of armored doors can be dissolved
As every year, from the beginning of summer, burglars try to locate the houses abandoned by their owners during the holidays, to break into them in search of valuables. This year, we see the frequency of break-ins in houses and apartments using acid, used to destroy the locks.
In the west of Île-de-France, around fifty houses were robbed using this technique. As locksmiths explain, the acid eats away at the lock from the inside, which makes it brittle: the spring of the mechanism becomes flexible and crushes. By inserting a key or a screwdriver, it is then possible to open the door silently and without resistance. Thieves can thus open doors in ten seconds, once the lock has been in contact with the acid. This method is very effective against any type of lock, even those of armored doors. As Le Parisien reports, other corrosive liquids, such as liquid nitrogen, are also used.
On the trail of criminals
But beware, the method is not infallible, and in some cases, the doors did not open. Investigators are currently analyzing fingerprints to find those responsible for the break-ins, but at this time police have not identified any suspects in the thefts, which mostly involve jewelry and cash. . Sébastien Aguilar, communication officer for the Snipat Police Scientifique, told CNews that traces analyzed in the laboratory have been submitted to the various files in France and abroad, to determine if it is an organized and itinerant band. . “We don’t know if they are old burglars, a band from Eastern Europe or a Parisian city”, police told Le Parisien.