Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Police said the arrests were part of a probe into criminals flying into the UK to target wealthy homes

Forty-eight people from South America have been arrested over burglaries in south-east England since 2017.

Surrey Police said the arrests were part of an investigation into foreign nationals flying into the UK to target wealthy homes.

Properties in the exclusive Wentworth Estate in Surrey are believed to be among those targeted by criminals.

Investigating officers arrested 18 South American nationals last year, eight in 2018 and 22 in 2017.

The force said the crime gangs had burgled homes across the south east of England in the past three years, with some of the 48 arrests linked to offences committed outside Surrey.

Wentworth Estate manager James Periton said the number of burglaries was rising again after "a few years of calm".

He said the recent spate showed the same "modus operandi" as had been associated with previous burglaries carried out by Chilean criminals.

"We know from the intelligence the police are giving us these aren't locals, these are organised criminals," he said.

Affluent areas

In 2018, the Met Police said it had dismantled a gang that was flying burglars from Chile to the UK.

Surrey Police said nine burglaries had been reported in the Virginia Waters area, home to the Wentworth Estate, this year.

"I don't think we are being completely singled out, but we believe the ring leaders are instructing the youngsters to go and look for private estates," Mr Periton said.

Other affluent areas have been targeted, he said, adding that a suspect in an earlier burglary left DNA at the scene of a burglary in Surrey and another in Oxfordshire.

Insp Nick Pinkerton, borough commander for Runnymede, said it would be inappropriate to speculate on whether the recent spate was linked to South American gangs.

However, he said the 48 arrests were "part of an ongoing regional investigation into crimes occurring across the South East which involve South American nationals coming to the UK to commit burglaries".

Some of the arrests were linked to offences committed outside Surrey, he said.

Police are working with private security firms and investigating the possibility of increasing CCTV coverage in the area, Insp Pinkerton said.