He traveled to the last World Cup, stole a suitcase with jewels and buried it in a Russian field: he fell assaulting an apartment in Caballito

06/12/2021 6:00 AM

• Clarín.com

• Police

Updated 06/12/2021 6:00 AM

The robbery had been perfect.

Edgar Alejandro Valero Valero (43)

was one of the hundreds of thousands of tourists who came to Russia during the 2018 World Cup. But Edgar, a Colombian like his fellow travelers, was not interested in football.

He had arrived in Kazan (820 kilometers from Moscow) because of what would happen at the Exhibition Center Kazanskaya Yarmarka.

Valero and his partners were

specialist in robberies at jewelry conventions.

They traveled the world doing the same thing: they found out about the different events online and performed.

They lived in Bogotá.

They also invested their booties there, which they only stole abroad.

On one of the days of the convention, a suitcase was stolen from a security employee at the Seven Diamonds jewelry booth.

Speaking perfect English, they pretended to want to help him.

But they left with the suitcase.

The jewelry was valued at $ 2.1 million.

It was in July 2018. Valero was only identified by Interpol's Russian office in September of that year.

And an international arrest warrant was issued.

They had no news of his whereabouts for almost a year. Knowing his customs of traveling to rob Europe, Asia and the United States, among many other destinations, his residence was unknown. Until he appeared at a Buenos Aires City Police Station. It was on September 1, 2019. At noon that day he

entered a building belonging to José María Moreno at 600, in Caballito.

He was accompanied by an accomplice. They entered with a key, without forcing the lock. And they headed for the garage. They would surely wait a few minutes to decide on one of the houses, to loot them.

Colombians preferred that time to enter to rob the departments of the City of Buenos Aires because they

believed that the managers took a siesta

or had lunch.

But this time, the doorman saw them on security cameras.

He called 911 and they were detained. 

They were charged with the crime of "home violation".

As he had no record in Argentina, the Prosecutor's Office, the defendants and their defenders agreed to a six-month suspended sentence.

Forty-eight hours later, his accomplice went free.

Edgar Alejandro Valero Valero, no.

Russia's extradition request left him in custody.

He entered a federal prison (Devoto, Marcos Paz or Ezeiza) and stayed until March 8, 2021. That day they took him to the Ezeiza airport and was extradited to Russia.

Until then, one more expulsion.

The surprise was known last week, when Valero Valero declared: he said that the jewels were still in Kazan.

He pointed to a forest in which he swore to have buried the loot.

Using radars, the Police found them: they were 4 bags with diamonds and jewels.

All intact.

The Colombian himself, handcuffed and surrounded by prison agents, pointed out the place where they dug until they found the jewels.

It is believed that he will spend the next 10 years in Russian prisons. 

Underground

"Oh Daddy. It 's just

that these are hot countries. You can not get away with what is stolen. So many Colombians bury their boots and then return to remove it

. Or send them

to other people ,

" he tells

Clarin

a Colombian who stole Canada, Argentina, Brazil and Chile.

Some of the "hot" countries he talks about are, in addition to Russia, Japan, Malaysia, Dubai, Singapore and the United States.

In general, the bands of "botineros" (as the thieves of jewelery bags are called in Colombian jargon)

have international

reducers who travel to the place where they are to buy the stolen goods.

The problem is that in certain countries, such as those named, the authorities are convinced that these are not local thieves.

So, they reinforce their security at airports.

And the reducers are

not encouraged to travel with the jewels.

They prefer to let time pass.

The Colombian custom of traveling to commit crimes began in the late 1950s. Legend has it that everything was born from a thief from Bogotá who traveled to New York to escape from the Colombian police.

He had committed murder.

He was an expert in the snatching of watches in the center of Bogotá.

Perhaps that is why one afternoon he went to visit the jewelry area on Fifth Avenue.

He saw a briefcase that he liked, went into the jewelry store behind his victim, and stole it.

Without violence.

Without anyone noticing.

He took the briefcase and left.

He opened it at the hotel.

He found tens of thousands of dollars.

He called his colleagues in Bogotá and invited them to travel.

His band was the first.

But over the months, others appeared.

In Colombia, thieves who operate abroad are called "internationals."   

For decades, they chose jewelry areas in much of the world. They did all kinds of modalities: in addition to stealing entire suitcases, there were those who posed as clients and stole loose cloth or jewelry. But the more experienced aimed at the conventions. They knew that the best jewelers in the world would arrive there.

But at the same time, they stole cell phones and wallets, bank leaks, and robbed houses. 

The "Internationals" began to arrive in Buenos Aires between 2007 and 2009. They came, more than anything, under the category "Apartamenteros".

That is, the Colombian version of the porteño scruchante: entering houses and apartments when their owners were not there.

Then their arrests for "freight" became common: they marked the victims in parking lots in downtown Buenos Aires, followed them and if they saw that they entered banks, caves or financial institutions, they broke a glass of the car to steal the backpack or briefcase they were carrying.

In general, each "international" is a specialist in one modality.

But he commits all kinds of robberies.

As

Clarín

learned

, Valero Valero is from the south of Bogotá.

He grew up in a slum in the poorest area of ​​the city.

A good part of his family is dedicated to the same thing.

They are one of the most recognized families among "Internationals".

The robberies allowed them, among many things, to move to a better neighborhood, travel the world and invest in different businesses.  

He had not only come to Argentina to escape from Russia.

As this newspaper learned, on August 1, 2009 he had registered with the AFIP.

As its main activity, it declared "Retail sale of textile articles nec except clothing (Includes retail sale of carpets, rugs, etc.)".

He took out Argentine DNI and number of cuit and cuil.

He set an address in Hipólito Yrigoyen at 1300, CABA. 

Its activities began in November 2013. Later, it registered two more: "Retail sale of household goods nec in specialized stores" and "Retail sale of textile articles nec except clothing".

GL