300 burglars from Chile held in UK

AROUND 300 Chilean burglars have been flown to the UK by gangs to target the homes of the rich and famous over the past three years.

The scale of ‘burglary tourism’ from South America emerged as two thieves were jailed for stealing £170,000 of shotguns, computers, jewellery and watches in 12 days.

The pair targeted multi-millionpound homes in Cheshire villages including those of former Manchester United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak and Team GB Olympics boss Andrew Anson.

Mr Kuszczak, 38, watched helplessly on a mobile security app as his home in Prestbury was robbed.

CCTV showed a four-strong masked gang dragging the Polish footballer’s safe, weighing almost 16 stone, into the garden to steal jewellery and other valuables worth around £80,000.

Two of the gang – Jorge Vallejos, 27, and Jamie Duarte Vera, 41 – were caught eight days later when they returned to Mr Kuszczak’s £2million home to rob it a second time.

Newly installed motion sensors alerted the star, who called police, Chester Crown Court heard. The pair were arrested after a chase across a golf course. The other two raiders have not been found.

Brett Williamson, prosecuting, said Vallejos and Duarte Vera arrived in the UK weeks before the first raid on a mansion in Alderley Edge on December 16. Within 12 days they hit another four homes, often shimmying up pipes and smashing windows to get in.

Mr Williamson said detectives from the Metropolitan Police revealed the pair were among 300 Chileans arrested since they launched a specialist investigation into burglaries in London and the Home Counties three years ago.

The raids last December marked a change in tactics, with the gangs moving north to target villages in Cheshire’s ‘footballers’ belt’.

Vallejos admitted five burglaries and one attempted burglary, and was jailed for three years and eight months. Duarte Vera pleaded guilty to three burglaries, one attempted burglary and going equipped for theft. He was jailed for three years and four months.