Ten years after theft: Expensive technology back at the clinic

Almost ten years after the theft of medical technology worth 400,000 euros from the St. Carolus Hospital in Görlitz, two of the expensive endoscopes stolen at the time have reappeared. The devices, worth tens of thousands of euros, were returned to the hospital in November, the Görlitz police department announced on Wednesday. They had been seized during searches as part of an international investigation involving the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

This was preceded by an investigation involving the Görlitz criminal investigation department, Europol, the Colombian police and the US authorities. According to the police, a group of Colombian criminals stole the expensive medical technology during a night-time break-in at the Görlitz hospital in July 2016. The thieves apparently struck at clinics throughout Europe at the time. The loot was shipped to South America shortly afterwards and then sold on the black market to clinics in Colombia, the USA and other countries.

41 devices stolen from German clinics

After an endoscope from a clinic in Wilhelmshaven turned up in the USA in 2017, the FBI got involved. This was followed by searches in the USA, Colombia and Panama. A total of 84 stolen medical devices were seized during the searches, including 41 from Germany. Two of the devices were linked to the burglary in Görlitz.

The Colombian gang structures responsible for the series of burglaries have now been dismantled, according to reports. Eight members of the group had already been arrested in Peru in 2017. Over the years, the thefts had caused damage in the hundreds of millions. No comparable cases have been reported since 2019. The hospital now wants to check whether the old devices are still technically usable.