Endoscopes 'used in ATM break-ins'

New Straits Times TWO GANGS INVOLVED: South American criminals believed to have used stolen medical equipment to check out cash inside
KUALA LUMPUR: POLICE believe that the recent thefts of medical equipment are linked to the spate of automated teller machine (ATM) break-ins.
Sources told the New Straits Times that endoscopes were being used to examine the contents of ATMs.
An endoscope is an instrument used to examine the interior of a hollow organ or cavity of the body.
"However, it can also be used to examine the interior of an ATM," the source revealed.
The two South American gangs, responsible for the thefts of the medical equipment and ATMs, are believed to be working together.
Police initially believed that the two gangs were operating separately, but investigations revealed otherwise.
It was learnt that city police had arrested 13 South American suspects this year.
They are from Guatemala, Peru and Colombia.
One was charged in court with robbery, while the rest were deported to their countries.
The recent thefts of medical equipment, worth millions of ringgit, from three hospitals in the Klang Valley have raised eyebrows.
Many speculated about what the thieves were going to do with the equipment as it was not something to dispose of easily.
Police are examining this angle as five South Americans were believed to have been responsible for last Friday's ATM robbery in Taman Melawati, Ampang.
The gang managed to prise the machine open and escaped with RM80,000.
"An ATM machine can have between RM100,000 and RM500,000, depending on its location and the volume of transactions.
"Police have not ruled out the possibility that the endoscopes had been used to check the interior of the ATM."
On June 11, endoscopy equipment, worth RM120,000, was stolen from Columbia Asia, a private hospital in Kajang.
The next day, two processors and 15 endoscopes, worth RM600,000, were stolen from Tung Shin Hospital in Jalan Pudu here.
On June 21, RM4 million worth of endoscopy equipment went missing from Universiti Malaya Medical Centre.
"These South Americans are difficult to track because of their short stays and the fact that they hold numerous passports."
The first case involving South Americans was reported in 1998 when a Peruvian syndicate, which stole luggage at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, was smashed by the authorities.
The second case involved a South American group breaking into residences, located in posh and upmarket neighbourhoods in the Klang Valley.
This group was eventually crippled by the police.
In 2010, four South Americans stole RM500,000 worth of jewellery from a goldsmith shop in Ampang after distracting a saleswoman.
Closed-circuit television camera footages helped the police to identify the suspects' nationality.