Police discover Chilean families that travel to Hamburg to steal

HAMBURG.- A group of Chilean families has allegedly been travelling regularly to Hamburg with the sole objective of stealing and sending the stolen goods back to their country.  The conclusion was reached by a special commission created in January of last year by the president of the police force in the German city, Werner Jantosch, and was published today in the periodical "Hamburger Abenblatt".

Kai Rassek, the head of the organization, travelled to Chile to exchange information with local police, which led him to the conclusion that those responsible for the robberies were not mafias but families. "These are family structures. There are no big bosses of the groups", Rassek told the newspaper.

Rassek also explained that there are approximately 1,300 Chilean nationals committing crimes abroad, the majority of whom specialize in Europe.

Furthermore, the thieves always use the same method: they travel for a few weeks, commit the robbery and send home the stolen goods, which are almost always cash, jewellery or expensive electronics. Afterwards, they make their way back to their country.

Thanks to contact with the Chilean police, Rassek indicated that it is now possible to verify suspects' fingerprints. "This helps us prevent thieves from entering Europe", he explained.