TOKYO (TR) – Two Chilean nationals, already in custody for the audacious theft of luxury watches worth 200 million yen from a Nakano Ward store, have been re-arrested for a separate residential break-in, with one of them boasting to police of a prolific international crime spree, reports TBS News (Sep. 28).
Boris Alexis Mancano Quezada, 33, and Jeremy Paolo Piña Guzman, 24, were served fresh arrest warrants on Monday for allegedly breaking into a home in an upscale residential neighborhood in Ota Ward on August 22, making off with watches and cash valued at approximately 8 million yen.
The pair had arrived in Japan on short-term tourist visas just one day prior to the Ota Ward burglary.
According to police, the men were walking through the neighborhood when they noticed a car pulling out of a residence. After ringing the intercom to confirm the home was empty, they hurled a rock from the garden through a window to gain entry.
Four high-end timepieces
The following day, on August 23, the duo allegedly scouted a watch shop inside the Nakano Broadway shopping complex. They struck the store on August 25, fleeing with four high-end timepieces worth 200 million yen.
During police questioning, Mancano Quezada claimed the Nakano heist was a crime of opportunity rather than a premeditated plot.
“I wanted to visit Nakano for sightseeing to send photos to my daughter,” he reportedly told investigators. “When I went there on August 23, I saw a good watch shop. The glass was thin and it was near an exit, so I thought we could pull it off.”
Investigators noted the men had indeed visited popular spots like Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Skytree, and Asakusa. However, police characterize the duo as “theft tourists” who target affluent but vulnerable locations while traveling.
International syndicafes
Far from being mere opportunists, authorities believe the men are operatives of a “South American Theft Group” (SATG) — international syndicates flagged by agencies like the FBI. These groups are known for entering countries on tourist visas, executing rapid strings of burglaries, liquidating the stolen goods through designated “fences,” and quickly fleeing the country.
Mancano Quezada has reportedly admitted to widespread criminal activity abroad, telling police, “I was committing thefts all over Europe.” He confessed to hitting up to three or four houses a day until he turned a profit, with authorities linking him to crimes in Sweden. Piña Guzman is similarly suspected of committing burglaries in France.
Three of the four watches stolen from the Nakano Broadway store remain missing. Mancano Quezada claims he handed the multi-million-yen timepieces to a Spanish-speaking man in his 40s on a promenade near a short-term vacation rental in Osaka.
Further highlighting the organized nature of the ring, police revealed that the day after the Nakano heist, an unidentified third party sent electronic flight tickets for Italy to Piña Guzman via social media.
Tokyo police are continuing its investigation to uncover the full scope of the syndicate’s network in Japan.
