More South American burglars face deportation (From Surrey Comet)

More South American burglars face deportation

8:23am Wednesday 4th July 2012 in News By Clare Buchanan

More South American burglars face deportation after being sentenced to time behind bars.

Carlos Andreas Romero Martinez, 32, pleaded guilty to burgling a house on January 27 this year, and was sentenced to 14 months in jail at Kingston Crown Court on June 27.

Another three Columbian burglars were also handed prison sentences after admitting conspiring to burgle properties in Kingston and Croydon in November last year.

Judge Richard Southwell handed a sentence of two years to Carlos Alberto Poveda Guio, 42, two and a half years to Pedro Cortez Herrera, 39, and three and a half years to Denisse Lara Bernal, 27, at Kingston Crown Court at an earlier hearing on Wednesday, June 13.

Detective Inspector Simon Day said: "This was a complex investigation into a highly organised team who predominantly targeted members of our Asian community to steal high value gold and jewellery amongst other items of property.

"They often took irreplaceable heirlooms and caused considerable damage.

"The impact on their victims was considerable and long lasting.

"I hope that their conviction and sentencing, and subsequent deportation, will give their victims some peace of mind and closure."

All four burglars will be deported after their sentences have been served.

South American burglary gangs were first revealed by the Surrey Comet in December last year and have added to Kingston’s burglary rate.

A total of 94 homes were hit in December 2011, the highest number for at least three years.

But three South American burglars disputed that they were an organised criminal gang and claimed to have met only a month before their crime, when they were sentenced in January this year.

The spate of burglaries was draining police resources from other parts of the borough as officers were drawn away to help deal with the crimes around the A3 corridor.