The drives aren't password protected. Why would one need to take the drives apart? Besides, the text was about extracting the drives, i.e. taking them out of the computer box.
Maybe to access the drive, they have to go through a lockable case. If someone lost the keys to that case, they might have had to pop the locks with a bolt cutter
That was exactly what I was driving at, thanks. In order to take the drives "out of the computer box", one needs to get through the lock on that computer box first.