A JEWEL thief dubbed the modern-day Raffles has been arrested in Dublin more than two weeks after absconding from an open prison in Britain.
Juan Carlos Guzm?nBetancourt, who modelled himself on the fictional gentleman burglar, plundered the hotel rooms of wealthy guests around the world for six years before he was finally jailed.
Police lost track of him after he went on the run on June 6 but a robbery at the five-star Merrion Hotel in Dublin last week led the police to believe that the culprit was Guzm?nBetancourt, 29, who had disappeared from Standford Hill prison in Kent.
He managed to escape with cash, jewellery and a credit card, which he used to buy a number of items.
Yesterday afternoon the police arrested Guzm?nBetancourt in Dublin city centre in connection with the hotel burglary. He has been detained at Harcourt Terrace police station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and can be held for up to 12 hours.
Guzm?n-Betancourt, a Colombian who also styled himself on the real-life American conman Frank Abagnale Jr, whom Leonardo DiCaprio portrayed in the film Catch Me If You Can, used his wit, charm, good looks and a collection of designer suits to assume the identities of wealthy hotel guests.
Using the excuse of lost room keys and forgotten safe codes, he duped staff into opening rooms and security boxes. As well as stealing valuables from safes, he ransacked the drawers and wardrobes of guests.
In London he targeted the Mandarin Oriental, Dorchester, Lanesborough, Savoy and Grosvenor House hotels, among others, stealing £150,000 of jewellery, cash and other expensive items.
Police believe that he may have pilfered goods worth £500,000 worldwide. In his final theft in London last year he stole clothes and watches worth £28,000 from Khalid al-Sharif, a Bahrain businessman, who was staying at the Dorchester.
Guzm?n-Betancourt, who is an expert linguist with at least ten aliases and two forged passports, was wearing Mr al-Sharif’s £2,000 Valentino leather jacket and one of his watches when he was arrested weeks later.
During his international crime spree, Guzm?nBetancourt evaded capture in Japan, France, the United States and Colombia. He is also believed to have struck in Venezuela and Mexico.
He was finally caught last December in London while supermarket shopping, when an off-duty officer recognised his distinctive eyebrow mole. He was jailed in April for three years for burglary, six deceptions and the possession of two forged passports.
A big operation to recapture him was started after he failed to return to prison from a dentist’s appointment early this month.
All ports and airports were alerted. At the time, a Home Office spokesman said that, as with all inmates, Guzm?nBetancourt would have been risk-assessed before being deemed suitable for an open prison.
Guzm?nBetancourt is from a middle-class Colombian family and is said to have run away at the age of 17 after having problems with his parents.