Sly plan to fleece tourists

By NAOMI LARKIN

A ring of South American thieves has been preying on tourists visiting New Zealand using a lucrative scam involving tomato sauce or suncream.

Police believe the group are behind thefts at hotels and airports in Auckland, Rotorua, Christchurch and Queenstown.

In one case an elderly Indian couple were fleeced of about $20,000 of cash and jewellery.

It was not clear how many people were involved in the scheme.

One man is in custody in Christchurch awaiting sentencing. Two were arrested in Auckland this month - one is understood to have since been deported - and a woman had voluntarily left the country for Peru. Police believe all four were members of the crime ring.

Sergeant Earl Cole, who is based at the Auckland Airport international terminal, said yesterday that police became aware of the scheme after tourists reported having luggage, handbags and wallets stolen.

The ruse involved one person secretly spraying a tourist on the back or shoulders with something like suntan cream or tomato sauce. A second person would then approach the tourist, saying he or she had bird droppings or sauce on their clothing.

When the tourist became distracted or went to clean the clothing some of his or her belongings were stolen, Sergeant Cole said.

"There were also a couple of wallets taken out of people's pockets - the same sort of scenario."

Elderly people who did not speak good English were targeted, he said.

"New Zealand is pretty rich pickings because in a lot of incidents people come here and let their guard down. It's a scam that is worked throughout the world but it's something a bit novel here."

The two men, believed to be Peruvian, were arrested for theft after being caught on film.

Similar incidents had been reported around the country.