Criminality - Acid burglaries in Berlin - highly corrosive and dangerous
It is a cunning and dangerous method used by burglars, posing risks for unsuspecting tenants. With concentrated nitric acid, the criminals destroy door locks, allowing them to open doors almost silently. In Berlin and some other cities, such cases of professional burglaries using nitric acid have been known for two years. According to the police, traveling burglar gangs also move into European countries.
How many nitric acid break-ins occurred recently?
The police counted a total of 318 incidents involving nitric acid in the capital city from 2022 to the early summer of 2024, of which 151 were unsuccessful attempts. Few photos document the damages caused by nitric acid. The latest reported incidents were in April 2023. Compared to the total of 8,300 burglaries in a year 2023, this is not a significant number. However, nitric acid can also cause injuries.
What makes nitric acid dangerous?
Burglars apply nitric acid to the door lock, making it physically dangerous. "The transported nitric acid is highly corrosive and can thus lead to the corrosion of the skin surface and mucous membranes," warns the police. "Do not touch the liquid, not even with gloves," reads a post on the platform X about a poisonously green glimmering liquid in front of a door.
"Pure, highly concentrated nitric acid" was responded by the Senate and Police in 2023 to a CDU inquiry. Nitric acid reacts with most metals, such as iron and copper in lock cylinders. In doing so, toxic gas like nitrogen dioxide with a pungent smell is produced. Organic materials like the wood of doors or floors are also attacked. "Nitric acid is subject to the Chemicals Regulation Ordinance and the Ordinance on the Control of Hazardous Substances and is not freely marketable," explains the police.
Which apartments do the gangs target most?
The first cases of burglaries in Berlin using nitric acid were detected in the third quarter of 2022. According to police investigations, the gangs are targeting "exclusively apartments in mostly multi-story buildings." Particularly affected are pre-1990s multi-story buildings in the districts of Lichtenberg, Marzahn-Hellersdorf, and Friedrichshain, with ten to eleven floors. There are many tenants there, frequent turnover of tenants, and therefore "a certain anonymity that can be beneficial for such crimes."
How do the burglars proceed?
Between the door and the door frame, the burglars attach "spiderweb-like adhesive threads," which are "barely visible to the naked eye and only detectable under torchlight," according to the police. A few days later, they check the threads to see if the door has been opened or if the residents have been away for a longer time. Then, they spray the nitric acid into the metal lock cylinder, which partially destroys it. "As a result, the burglars can open the apartment doors without much effort and noise and enter the apartment," the police explain.
How can one recognize a nitric acid break-in at the door?
From the outside, signs of a liquid and damages to the wood are noticeable at the door, as photos of affected individuals on the internet show. A housing cooperative in Berlin-Friedrichshain warned in 2023: "If you notice unusual discolorations (mostly yellow, green or brown) or a pungent smell in the door lock area of houses, cellars or apartment doors, avoid any skin contact and maintain a distance to prevent inhaling possible fumes."
Where do these break-ins occur?
Burglars do not use acid only in Berlin. The police stated: "In Germany, cases have been identified in Hamburg and Dresden so far." This phenomenon is also known in Belgium, France, and Austria. After the initial arrests by the Berlin police, the focus of the acid burglaries shifted again to Vienna and Paris, and some cases were later reported in Portugal.
The burglary investigators at the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) have already identified several suspects, some of whom have been arrested on international arrest warrants and are in custody for investigation. More suspects are being sought. The police refused to reveal the exact number of suspects and their nationalities.
Can one protect oneself against these burglaries?
There are no special protective measures against acid. The police advise, under certain circumstances, to install a second door lock with a different design. A user on the internet refers to water and bases like sodium hydroxide to neutralize strongly corrosive hydrochloric acid. Knowledge of chemistry is therefore not harmful.
- The police report indicates that nitric acid break-ins have been recorded in Berlin and other cities, including Hamburg and Dresden in Germany, as well as in Belgium, France, and Austria.
- The burglars often target apartments in multi-story buildings from before 1990, particularly in the districts of Lichtenberg, Marzahn-Hellersdorf, and Friedrichshain, where they can benefit from a certain anonymity due to frequent tenant turnover.
- According to the police, the burglars use spiderweb-like adhesive threads between the door and the door frame, which they check after a few days to determine if the apartment is empty, and then spray nitric acid onto the metal lock cylinder, allowing them to open the apartment door without much effort or noise.
