FBI says: NPR
The photo, taken the day after NFL quarterback Joe Burrow's house was stolen, shows several suspects in the crime, reportedly stolen items, the FBI said. , including Burrow (Burrow South American Crime Ring).
Closed subtitles
Switch title
this The recent burglary of the Cincinnati Bengal quarterback, Joe Burrow's mansion is part of a wave of “crime travel” with international burglary teams spread across the United States, stealing from homes in wealthy areas.,,,,, according to Ministry of Justice.
Thieves often use complex strategies to overcome security measures so that they can steal jewelry, watches and luxury goods from luxury homes. The FBI calls them a South American theft group. So far, many of the arrested suspects (including Burrow's case) have come from Chile.
A strategy model used by the team is suitable for the Burrow home’s Ohio burglary and other crimes in early December – including the recent theft FBI spokesman Todd Lindgren said to professional athletes. In recent months, thieves have targeted homes for high-profile players such as Travis Kelce of the NFL and Luca Doncic of the NBA.
Last week, federal court liberated a January indictment accusing two men of conducting a large-scale jewellery fencing operation in New York City.
The indictment states that the defendants were “fences” for South American burglary crews who expelled the U.S. to target wealthy communities between 2020 and 2025 and provided a “basic market for stolen items.” A high-profile athlete in Ohio said, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Cincinnati case echoes a wider pattern
Chilean citizen Sergio Andres Ortega Cabello rented a popular map atlas in Florida and was in Joe Burrow After breaking in, the car was tracked to Cincinnati and then back to Florida. Cabello saw another Chilean suspect, Bastian Alejandro Orellana Morales, in the passenger seat .
NPR's FBI / Screenshot
Closed subtitles
Switch title
NPR's FBI / Screenshot
The affidavit said FBI agents who investigated the cave theft said it was “consistent with thefts executed by the South American Theft Organization (SATG).
FBI agent Aaron Bauder wrote in law enforcement agencies across the country: “There are burglaries that suit Satg Mo, where professional athletes are victims.”
“The Satg Mo for residential burglaries includes high-end homes targeting green spaces, walking trails, golf courses or other undeveloped land,” Bald wrote. “Then, where possible, they can Enter the residence through the rear window or glass door.”
He said the thieves focused on jewellery and designer accessories, which are usually sold through illegal fences along the coast of New York, California and Florida.
“These groups are usually composed of foreign nationals from South America who either enter the country illegally or overdue on visas to continue the crime,” Bald wrote. “SATG often travels with rental cars and will carry fake ones,” he said. ID cards and documents.” He added that these groups usually activate and inactivate their cell phones in less than a month.
According to the affidavit, in the cave case, the suspect allegedly carried a fake ID card from Argentina and other countries with a false name.
Theft is A wave of criminal travel. The FBI is committed to South American theft organizations nationwide. The Ohio Criminal Investigation Bureau formed a task force that addressed them last March.
The FBI has released tips to minimize the chances of criminal gang injuries, including avoiding saying on social media that you are on vacation. According to ABC News, the agency also specifically warned professional sports leagues that athletes can target athletes.
The majority of the focus of the burglary ring is Chile, partly because of its inclusion in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program in 2014, which allows foreign citizens to visit the U.S. for up to 90 days without a visa. Chile remains the only South American country on the U.S. visa exemption list.
In 2023, MPs from California wrote to Chile’s ambassador in the United States, saying they were “strongly worried” about the Chilean government’s inadequate movement to prevent criminals from traveling to the United States in just one year, saying, “14 under (Visa Waiver Program) After entering the United States, Chilean nationals were charged with theft and other related crimes in Orange County.”
Michigan raised similar concerns, with state lawmakers saying in 2023, multiple Chilean nationals entering the country under a visa exemption program stole millions of dollars in the Oakland County area of Michigan (Michigan) arrested for goods. ”
Despite the attention of Chile, it has also been found that South American theft cases have been linked to many other countries, including Colombia. A group with members of Chile, Peru and Venezuela has been linked to at least 29 robberies in at least eight states, the FBI's Sacramento Field Office in California said.
Investigators said
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vtlqo2s6eu
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in southern Ohio, the United States. At the time, Burrow played against the Dallas Cowboys in Texas.
Jordan Francisco Quiroga Sanchez, 22; Bastian Alejandro Orellana Morales, 23; Sergio Andres Ortega Cabero, 38 ( Sergio Andres Ortega Cabello faces charges, including theft of goods on trans-state boundaries and forging records in a federal investigation, as well as state charges.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol initially arrested the three men, Alexander Esteban Huaiquil Chavez, after a traffic stop in January, who was another man in the vehicle. Facing state charges. An officer’s camera recorded the traffic stop showing one of the men wearing a Bengal knitted hat. Items at the back of the truck included LSU's T-shirts, and Burrow starred in college. Tools that can punch holes in the windows are tucked behind the glove box.
Raid a “fence” pawn in Manhattan
On Tuesday, New York City's federal prosecutors announced the arrest of two men who operated a Manhattan pawn shop, allegedly suspected of regularly being a South American theft group ('SATG') in the tourism industry that was committed to criminal travel crimes, according to federal prosecutors in New York City. . ”
According to a court application by the U.S. District Attorney for Eastern New York, one of the man Dimitriy Nezhinskiy was linked to at least two people arrested in Ohio. Nezhinskiy also had contact with one of Ohio suspects and had to break into Burrow's house less than a week, the document noted.
Nezhinskiy and another suspect, Juan Villar, are now facing one federal conspiracy to obtain stolen property and three counts of receiving stolen property. They are accused of fences “robbing countless stolen goods from all over the United States” and have links to “five independent theft crews that have been operating since at least 2020.” explain.
The authorities' search for Nezhinskiy's storage units found “a large number of luxury goods and clothing, including high-end handbags, wine, sports souvenirs, jewelry and artworks,” court documents show. Prosecutors said the units also possess theft cases and the power tools commonly used in open safes. They also claimed that witnesses said Nezski and Veral “instructed them to steal items from New York, so it was easier for the defendants to resell the items, and law enforcement was harder to track.”
The documents show that Georgian national Nezhinskiy “has been subject to a final dismissal order for the final dismissal (from the United States) since 2003. However, because he was unable to return to his home country, Nezhinskiy remained in the United States.”