International Burglars Strike Again: The Search for Two Men Involved in Home Invasions in Belgium and Netherlands

An attentive viewer of the FAROEK investigation reports sent an email to our editors: the two men we showed in our report in January had already appeared on television in the Netherlands two weeks earlier during the program ‘Opsporing Requested’. It involves a thin man with black hair and glasses, and a heavily built man with black hair. A similar tip was also received by the Antwerp police, who were able to quickly confirm the news: the two men are wanted internationally.

On August 31, 2022, the two men break into a beautiful house in Overveen, near Amsterdam, during the day. At that moment an elderly man is at home. They threaten him with a screwdriver, and the older man falls and suffers a head injury. While he is briefly unconscious, the two burglars can start walking.

But during the burglary, the thin man loses his glasses, which leads the Dutch investigators to his identity through DNA research. It turns out that it is not the least: it concerns Sergio Hanz Bustamante Torres from Chile. The man is wanted for dozens of burglaries in five European countries. In Switzerland, for example, he is linked to no less than 16 different burglaries. His glasses turn out to be just window glass – perhaps it was just a disguise.

A sixth country has now been added to Torres’ long list of achievements: Belgium. On August 30, he and his unknown companion break into an inconspicuous terraced house in Borgerhout in broad daylight. They have been searching the house for a while, before they notice that the daughter, a 16-year-old girl, has been upstairs in her room all this time. The girl is tied up without much ado with the cord of a hairdryer and has to lie on the floor in the dressing room. Here it already appears that Torres and his companion are not easily impressed: they quietly search the rest of the house before they leave a little later and take the tram. For the girl herself it is a shocking experience. Her mother Mireille tells ‘how a strange man suddenly appeared in her daughter’s bedroom’. You can read and view the entire report on the home invasion in Antwerp here.

Investigators now know the skinny man’s identity, but his whereabouts are still unknown. If you have seen this man or his companion, know more about the identity of the heavier man, or have tips about their whereabouts, the investigators would like to know. With all your information, you can contact the Belgian police on the free number 0800/ 30 300 or send an e-mail to Investigations@police.belgium.eu.

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