Three men from Chile who travelled to the UK with the intention of committing crime have been jailed for more than 13 years.
Nicholas Oviedo, 26, Alexis Oviedo, 25, and Joel Ureta, 42, were all members of an organised crime gang that arrived in the UK in January with the sole aim of committing burglaries at high-value homes.
After arriving in the country, they set up base at a hotel in Manchester and hired a car to help them commit their offences.
Between Saturday 4 January and Wednesday 15 January the trio committed multiple burglaries in affluent areas of Cheshire.
Thankfully, their crime spree was brought to an end when a man out walking on Legh Road, Knutsford, heard an alarm going off at a nearby address.
He approached the house and noticed two men, who were acting suspiciously, getting into the car that the trio had hired, a dark Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which was parked near to the entrance.
The man made a note of the registration number and reported his concerns to Cheshire Constabulary.
Officers quickly attended the scene and confirmed that there had been a break-in at the address.
A police marker was subsequently placed on the vehicle.
The car was later stopped by officers in Greater Manchester and the three occupants were arrested and transferred to Cheshire.
An investigation was launched by detectives from Macclesfield CID and they uncovered evidence, including ANPR data and cell-site analysis, which linked the men to at least seven burglaries, committed in the Knutsford, Alderley Edge, Wilmslow and Prestbury areas.
The trio, all of no fixed address, subsequently pleaded guilty to seven counts of burglary.
They were all sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Wednesday 1 July.
They were jailed for a combined total of 13 years and four months.
Nicolas Oviedo received a four-year prison sentence.
Alexis Oviedo and Ureta were both handed custodial sentences of four years and eight months.
