Posted on 03/24/2024 8:11:58 PM PDT by bitt
South American “crime tourists” who exploit the US visa system to enter the country and commit burglaries have now infiltrated at least half the states in America and taken “millions of untraceable” goods, The Post has learned.
The organized groups of burglars and jewel thieves, particularly from Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru, have been targeting wealthy homes across the US for decades, but their crimes have spread — and recently soared in some cities, authorities say.
“They travel to cities across the nation – including in Maricopa County – and steal millions in untraceable items,” said Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, whose office oversees such Arizona cities as Phoenix and Scottsdale, which have been collectively hit by by more than 100 burglaries believed to have been carried out by the groups since November.
“This is a group that is taking advantage of the relationship that certain countries in South America have with the United States so that they don’t have to have a lot of scrutiny coming in,” Mitchell told The Post.
The crooks hone in on the US government’s tourist visa program, which is friendly to their countries and allows them to fly into the US without a background check, authorities say.
They are then careful to commit nonviolent property offenses because the bar to be held on bail in most states, including New York, is high, so they are able to flee the country or disappear into oblivion afterward — and before they can be tried and convicted, Mitchell said.
Burglars linked to the so-called “South American Theft Group” — a broad term given by law-enforcement agencies to the rings — have been responsible for hundreds of US break-ins so far this year alone, officials say.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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A bunch of homes in my area of wealthy people were targeted by a Chilean gang. He couldn’t get me a safe but they stole a lot of valuable stuff.
One of these days they’re going to hit the wrong house.
So will some squatters.
Why are they suddenly pushing this again? I saw this come up but the Indiana incident they were discussing as if it was current was from 2022. I see the NYT article has a video that’s dated 2019. They had one round of arrests in 2023 from the Los Angeles area and then everything else they’re talking about are from past years. Why is the article implying that this is a current issue that is everywhere when the only examples they can come up with are old?
You are very much mistaken. Two days ago, a house a couple streets over from mine was ransacked in broad daylight by one of these Chilean gangs. The homeowner left the house to go to the gym, and in the span of her workout, they thoroughly cleaned out the house. They even stole the safe. This is in an extremely safe area of Orange County, CA.
The Irvine PD nabbed another Chilean tourist trio last week. This is happening almost daily.
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