TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a Colombian woman who is suspected in dozens of burglaries in the Kanto area, reports NHK (July 21).
According to police, Amanda Lucia Perez Hoyos, 41, is a member of a burglary ring. On January 25, she allegedly worked with three accomplices to break into a residence in Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture and steal 310,000 yen in cash and 34 items — valued at a total of 840,000 yen — including rings.
Upon her arrest, Hoyos denied the allegations. “I didn’t go to the [crime] scene. I just rented a car. I also sold the jewelry [for cash],” she said. The three accomplices, at least one of whom is also Colombian, have been prosecuted in the case.
Police said that Hoyos came to Japan to participate in the ring. As she alluded to in denying the allegations, her primary function was to provide members of the ring with vehicles, mobile telephones and accommodations.
Police believe Hoyos was involved in 50 break-ins in Tokyo and four prefectures between last August and February in which the value of lost property totaled more than 43 million yen. All told, police have arrested nine persons as a part of the investigation.
