Colombian gang, experts in house burglaries, held in Bengaluru

The Bengaluru police have busted a well-trained gang from Colombia which carried out a spate of house burglaries and recovered six kilos of gold jewels worth Rs 2.50 crore, pistol and other high-tech equipment.

The arrested are William Padilla Martinez (48), Stephanie Munoz Monsalve (23) and Christian Inez Olarto (34) — all Colombian nationals.

The arrests were made in March but announced on Thursday due to lockdowns. Police officials said they even learnt Spanish with the help of a Spanish translator to interrogate the accused. The gang members are currently lodged in Parappana Agrahara central prison.

The gang committed 31 House Burglary Thefts (HBT) under various police station limits in the city. Apart from gold, police also recovered a 9mm browning pistol with 23 live rounds, two bikes, one fake passport, one fake international driving licence, said city police commissioner Bhaskar Rao.

Rao said the accused entered the city via Nepal under a tourist visa. Efforts are on to nab three more accused including the kingpins Gustavo alias Mustafa and Kibarli, who are absconding.

The gang came under the police scanner in October 2019 when they tried to burgle the house situated next to Sandalwood actor Shivaraj Kumar at Manyata Residency inside the Manyata Tech Park.

They broke open the grill and tried to enter the house but Sampigehalli Police got an alert and rushed to the spot. The gang fled leaving their Indica car behind.

When the police reviewed the CCTV footage, they were in for a surprise. The accused were trained in parkour (jumping compound walls) as they jumped 15-feet high compound wall effortlessly and escaped. The police later found walkie-talkie and other equipment from their car.

This led the police to review similar break-ins elsewhere in the city. While reviewing CCTV footage, the police recognised Mustafa during a break-in.

The gang members were nabbed in March 2020 near Thanisandra when they were moving suspiciously on motorbikes. He [Mustafa] was arrested for burgling the house of retired chief secretary Koushik Mukherjee’s house in 2018 and released on bail, Rao added.

Investigation revealed that Mustaf had come to the city via Nepal. Later, he invited three of his associates, who stayed in a rented apartment in Kothanur police station limits.

Modus operandi

The gang would go on bicycles to identify a house. Once they had zeroed in on the house, the gang used to arrive in their bikes and car.

First, gang member Stephanie — armed with pepper spray and knives for emergencies — would ring the bell. On confirming that the house was empty, the gang used to break the grills and enter the house. To avoid tower tracking, they used walkie-talkies for communication.

All of them wore a suite similar to the PPE kit, gloves, mask and cap to avoid leaving prints at the scene. They also had mobile jammer, drill bit machine, laser cutting machine, flame gun and other tools to commit the burglary.