He poses in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and smiles next to Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia church.
So far, an entirely normal set of social media images of a young man from South America who is enjoying the sights as he tours Europe.
However, most tourists do not usually find themselves clapped in handcuffs less than ten hours after arriving in Britain.
Yet this is what happened to Yeico Guzman Fernandez, the Chilean ‘tourist’ who had proudly posed alongside some of the Continent’s most famous landmarks.
On a visit to the UK in December last year, he didn’t even wait to unpack his suitcase before heading out into London, because this time the 25-year-old wasn’t interested in sightseeing.
Instead, having met up with two fellow Chileans, he started touring the suburbs looking for flats and houses to break into.
And by 5pm on the very same day as his arrival, he was under arrest having been stopped following a car chase in Fulham.
Police recovered watches and jewellery from the men, as well as an array of tools used to gain access to the properties they targeted.
Israel Contreras poses in front of London’s Tower Bridge
If ever there were an example of the scourge on society known as ‘burglary tourism’ then this surely is it.
How long Fernandez had intended to visit the UK for is unclear. But it certainly wouldn’t have been the two years nine months that he was recently sentenced to serve in a British prison.
The other gang members – there were four in all – were also locked up for their part in the series of raids that targeted homes in affluent areas of London and Surrey.
In total more than £80,000-worth of watches, designer clothing and jewellery were stolen in a matter of weeks. On top of which was the untold emotional pain inflicted on those whose homes and privacy they invaded.
Properties were ransacked as they forced their way in, often attempting to bypass alarm systems by entering on the first floor.
At one burglary in Epsom, in early December last year, they had even unwrapped the occupants’ Christmas presents as they looked for valuables to steal.
While police were understandably delighted to have caught the gang when they did, the question remains as to how on earth they came to be in Britain in the first place.
Concern about Britain’s porous borders is currently focused on small boats crossing the Channel. But this case once again shines a light on how foreigners who pose a clear threat are still seemingly being waved into the country through official channels.
Michael Arenas Carrasco had a lengthy rap sheet as a teenager for burglary, theft and receiving stolen goods
Yeico Guzman Fernandez, the Chilean ‘tourist’ who toured the suburbs for flats to break into
Eduardo Marquez was the driver of the getaway car for the gang
Because the Daily Mail can reveal that all four gang members had extensive criminal records, both in Chile and in other countries where they had travelled to commit crime.
Take jet-setting Fernandez, whose life as a peripatetic criminal began aged just 18 when he was arrested in America as part of what US police dubbed a Chilean organised retail crime group.
Again part of a four-strong gang, he targeted high-value goods in designer stores, stealing and then selling them on.
Using a carrier bag with a hidden compartment, Fernandez helped snatch Chanel handbags, Gucci sunglasses and Burberry shirts worth more than £10,000. In 2019 he received two jail sentences of seven months and five months, to run concurrently, after which it is understood he was deported back to Chile.
Official records there indicate that in the years that followed he had a number of further brushes with the law. But it’s unclear what Fernandez had been up to on his travels around Europe, which he documented so proudly on his social media accounts.
As for another of those arrested alongside Fernandez in Britain, Michael Arenas Carrasco had a lengthy rap sheet as a teenager for burglary, theft and receiving stolen goods. In 2022 he and two others were caught stealing copper cable from a telecoms company in Chile. The theft damaged 240 metres of cabling, causing losses valued at about £22,410. For this crime, he was sentenced to 541 days in prison.
‘In the past, seasoned “lanzas” [thieves] avoided having records in Chile to reduce detection risks,’ Daniel Morales, commissioner of the Interpol National Central Bureau in Santiago told the Daily Mail.
‘Today, most do have criminal records for similar offences at home, suggesting they “train” in Chile before going abroad. In this case, all four had extensive police records, mostly for property crimes. Some had outstanding arrest warrants, records abroad, or deportation orders.
A pile of gold jewellery which was part of a series of photos posted online
‘This defines them as an experienced group in both burglary and international crime, with potential for violence.’
Given those red flags, why did the British authorities allow them to enter this country? After all, the path trodden by these four young men is hardly a new one. As long ago as 2018, the Daily Mail was highlighting how criminals from Chile were flying to the UK to target wealthy properties in the Home Counties.
Since then hundreds of burglars from the South American country have been arrested following raids that have seen jewellery, watches and designer clothes worth millions of pounds stolen.
And time and time again, we have revealed how many of those arrested had extensive criminal records. Yet still they are seemingly allowed to waltz into the country and terrorise British citizens. Until recently, visitors from Chile travelling to the UK for purposes of tourism could do so without a visa – and, seemingly, with little or no background checks.
In 2021, Priti Patel, then home secretary, announced she would tighten up entry to the country by making those coming to the UK for short stays apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).
It was claimed that it would improve border security by providing the authorities with advance information about visitors, giving more time to screen them.
Those applying for an ETA are asked to provide biographical and contact information, passport details, and immigration history. They are also supposed to ‘self-declare’ any criminal convictions.
The scheme was due to have been introduced in 2023 – but it only came in to force for Chilean nationals in January of this year, meaning Fernandez and his gang would have entered the country under the old system.
A photo of wads of euro bank notes also posted online
Whether any additional checks on them were carried out at the border is unclear. The Daily Mail provided the Home Office with the names and dates of birth of all four men and asked about their arrival into the UK.
But a spokesman declined to shed any light on the matter, saying that it was their ‘longstanding policy not to comment on individual cases’.
Instead, she spoke of Labour’s record on deporting foreign criminals, saying: ‘When foreign nationals commit serious crimes in our country, we will always do everything in our power to deport them.
‘This Government deported almost 5,200 foreign national offenders in its first year in office, a 14 per cent increase on the previous year, and we will continue to do everything we can to remove these vile criminals from our streets.’
Of course, it goes without saying that were ‘these vile criminals’ not allowed in to Britain in the first place, they would not have to be removed. And what is particularly galling is that the route they followed is such a well-worked one. The latest case clearly demonstrated that – with individuals flying in and out of the country to link up with other gang members.
‘These groups form by affinity – whoever has the information or the most experience leads at that moment, but groups then dissolve and re-form with other Chileans for new burglaries,’ explains Commissioner Morales.
‘A single individual can be a leader in one group and just a member in another. They operate as interconnected cells, linked by nationality, criminal culture, and expertise, but without the hierarchical structure of a cartel or mafia.
‘The pattern is to travel to Europe with money saved in Chile, meet up with contacts, commit the burglary, dispose of goods in specific locations, and send part of the proceeds back home, sometimes through international money transfers.’
When this latest gang first arrived is unclear, but it is thought they had been active here since the late summer.
On November 3 officers got the first clue to their identity when one of them – Israel Jara Contreras – dropped his phone fleeing over the fence of a home in Hillingdon, west London.
Footage of that moment was captured on camera, with CCTV showing four masked gang members dressed in black fleeing through a suburban back garden as a burglar alarm sounded in the background. As Contreras attempted to vault over the fence the phone was dropped on the ground.
A search of the mobile found five screenshots from a mapping app, with location markers, or ‘pins’, dropped on residential properties around London. DNA matches then linked the 22-year-old to parts of a broken angle grinder blade left behind at the scene of a burglary in Esher, connecting the offences in London and Surrey.
Contreras would become the first gang member to be detained by police on December 5 when he was arrested attempting to board a flight from Heathrow to Chile.
Despite his arrest, the remaining gang members continued to target properties, with Fernandez flying in to join them on December 11.
At 5pm on the same day they were pulled over driving a red Hyundai on Fulham Palace Road in London by officers from Surrey Police. Having attempted to reverse and ram their way to freedom, the car was stopped and the three occupants detained.
Video footage of the arrest showed Eduardo Aroca Marquez, the driver of the getaway car, being searched by police. Watches and jewellery were found in his pockets.
At one point the 29-year-old could be seen lifting up his top to reveal a large crowbar tucked into the waistband of his trousers. He grinned broadly as he showed it to police.
Placed under arrest, all four were charged with conspiracy to commit burglary and possessing criminal property. Following court cases at Guildford Crown Court, Contreras was sentenced to five years and three months, Marquez to six years and nine months, and Carrasco and Fernandez to two years and nine months each.
As the Home Office proudly pointed out, all four will face deportation back to Chile. Given the past flow of Chilean criminals to the UK, the concern is that others will simply fill the gap.
Evidence of the brazen way in which they carry out their criminal activities is not hard to find. Curiously, Fernandez’s TikTok account follows another which charted the journey around Europe of four men, apparently Chilean, as they visited countries including France, Spain, Italy and Holland.
The videos combine sightseeing shots with images of themselves, their faces obscured, dressed in designer clothing and dripping in gold jewellery, making ‘gangster’ poses to the camera.
One picture outside the Coliseum in Rome has the caption: ‘I don’t know nothing baby, I am a tourist.’ It is followed by emojis of an Italian flag, a running man, a whirlwind, a screwdriver, and a face with dollar signs for eyes.
A second image shows a man posing in a balaclava holding a crowbar with the caption: ‘Making Europe miserable… doing what we love most.’ Another compilation of shots features wads of 50 and 200 Euro bank notes, piles of gold jewellery and watches laid out side by side. There are also screen shots of maps featuring affluent European suburbs.
Even more disturbing are a number of photos shot at night looking into various properties and taken from gardens or the road outside.
Interestingly, the very last picture to be posted on the account is December 10 of last year – the day before the arrests in London.
Of course, that could just be a coincidence.
Sergeant Ben Deacon, who led the investigation into the latest gang for Surrey Police, praised their victims for coming forward and helping catch the burglars.
And he had the following warning to those tempted to follow in their footsteps: ‘On the off chance any would-be-burglars are reading this, I want them to understand the following: Contreras thought he had got away with his crimes, but was arrested on his way home at Heathrow, minutes from freedom.
‘Fernandez entered the UK with sole intention of thievery but spent less than 12 hours at large in this country prior to spending years in prison. And Marquez and Carrasco did not see us coming and won’t be free for a long time.’
