by Khuswant Singh
FOUR Chilean nationals who came here as tourists and were issued
month-long social visit passes will now be here far longer. Each
was jailed a year for theft by a district court on Wednesday.
When they pleaded guilty on March 31 earlier this year, they
admitted to being members of a foreign crime syndicate.
The court then heard that Claudio Ivan Cuevas Osorio, 38,
Cristian Jerardo Pina Lemunir, 29, Cristian Eduardo Criado Ordonez,
34, and Jean Pierre Silva Rebolledo, 31, were to post the stolen
items back to Chile.
They had arrived here in mid-March and checked into Lai Ming
Hotel Cosmoland in Geylang Road. They would stalk shopping malls,
foodcourts and restaurants in Orchard Road and Harbourfront,
targeting those who hung their handbags on chairs and those who
placed their cellphones and laptops on tables and nearby chairs.
Within a week, they had amassed nearly $10,000 worth of loot.
When police tracked them down on March 21, a postal receipt led
to the discovery of four parcels at the Geylang SingPost office.
The boxes were packed with 16 mobile phones, nine cameras, three
laptops, two media players, four branded handbags and several
credit cards. More stolen items were recovered from their
rooms.