Stolen respirator masks being sold on Craigslist are donated to Oregon hospitals

An accused thief’s efforts to sell thousands of stolen N95 respirator masks on Craigslist has produced a windfall for Oregon hospitals, police in Portland say.

Vladislav V. Drozdek, 42, of Beaverton faces charges that he stole up to 25 cases of the masks worth $2,5000 from the Portland Rebuilding Center on March 6, police wrote in a release.

The next day, owners of the business discovered an ad offering the masks for sale on Craigslist and notified Beaverton police, who set up a meeting with Drozdek and arrested him, officers wrote. Police recovered six boxes of masks.

On Saturday, Portland police say they found at least seven more cases of masks inside a Portland home after further investigation. The owner of the masks donated them to Oregon hospitals.

“This is even more significant during a time when these medical supplies are in such short supply,” said Mike Frome, assistant chief of operations for the Portland Police Bureau, says the release.

Further arrests and charges are pending, police wrote.

More than 350,000 cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed worldwide with more than 15,300 deaths as of March 23, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 35,000 confirmed cases with more than 400 deaths.

The World Health Organization has declared coronavirus a global pandemic. The United States has declared a national emergency.

Panic buying by consumers has left protective face masks in short supply for health care workers. N95 respirator masks are more effective at protecting against the virus, reports USA Today.

This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 7:27 AM.