Thread: Dozens of Chilean ‘tourists’ tied to burglaries in Southern California

Dozens of Chilean ‘tourists’ tied to burglaries in Southern California, police say

Jonathan Garay, 29, Eduardo Queralto, 22, and Kevin Castillo, 22, who were in the United States on temporary visas from Chile, were arrested last week on suspicion of burglary and conspiracy. Simi Valley Police Department

By MARK PUENTE
APRIL 23, 2019
10:09 PM

The crime patterns began emerging in the last year: crews of thieves employing inventive techniques to gain entry and ransack scores of cars, homes and businesses in Southern California and across the nation.

As investigations and arrests ramped up, detectives noticed another key commonality: The suspects were Chilean and had gained entry into the U.S. with easily obtained visa waivers.

“It is a growing problem,” said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. “They’re very sophisticated. It’s a hot zone in Southern California.”

Law enforcement has dubbed it “burglary tourism,” and it is thriving locally and around the world.

Last week, Simi Valley police, working with the California Highway Patrol and Ventura County deputies, arrested three Chilean men for multiple vehicle burglaries. Each was here on temporary waivers, police said. In January, four other Chilean men were arrested in connection with 20 home burglaries and other thefts from vehicles at golf courses in the same community.

A crew believed to be connected to a Chilean ring pried into a Laguna Niguel jewelry store last month, swiping more than $1 million in goods.

Similar crimes have been reported in Texas, Arizona, Colorado, New York and other states as well as several European countries, the FBI said.

International crime rings are not uncommon, but authorities could point to no specific reason why the Chilean rings have been so successful.

Chile’s consulate general in Los Angeles did not respond to requests for comment.

Javiera Rodríguez, a Chilean television journalist, said that some Chilean criminals were known to seek out wealthier nations.

“There are many Chileans who, being criminals here, travel abroad because they can obtain better treasures,” she said in a Twitter message. “In addition, they are very ingenious and create new forms of theft.”

One pattern worldwide is the ingenuity of approach: The men arrested in Simi Valley last week used a jamming device to prevent car owners from locking their vehicles, a news release said. The device interrupts the signal when car owners activate the lock on key fobs.

And the visa waiver makes it hard for police to learn the real identities of the crooks, investigators said.

The ESTA — Electronic System for Travel Authorization — visa waiver allows citizens from 38 countries to visit the United States for tourism, business, study or medical purposes for 90 days.

Brian Hassine, owner of a Laguna Niguel jewelry store, stands near a hole in the ceiling where burglars entered.Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

The streamlined visa waivers are good for two years and can be used for multiple entries. Applicants can apply for the waivers as late as three days before leaving the country, according to the website.

The federal government established the visa program in 2009 to provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security with the capability to prescreen travelers against numerous no-fly, criminal and terrorist databases, according to the program website.

Those holding the waivers don’t have to fill the more onerous requirements of regular visas, such as comprehensive applications, interviews at a U.S. Embassy and increased scrutiny.

So far, police have been unable to determine the number of heists, the value of items stolen across the region or how many people work in the ring.

The crews’ signature identifiers include fake passports and phony identification cards. They use rental cars, sometimes masked with paper license plates. After entering the rear of homes, the burglars typically barricade front doors, including those in gated communities with private security patrols.

Once inside, crews scour master bedrooms for jewelry, money, guns and safes. Homes with parks, trails or undeveloped land behind them are prime targets, police said.

Investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office peg the number of burglaries in the “hundreds.”

LAPD Capt. Donald Graham, commander of the North Hollywood Division, said it was common for homeowners to lose $30,000 to $40,000 in a heist. Officers are aware of at least 40 burglaries in the division and dozens more in other areas.

The crews break glass or pry open patio doors but will not spend minutes circumventing alarm systems, he said.

“It’s become very distinguished by the way they stack furniture against doors,” Graham said. “This is a wide organized-crime ring. We’re going to need help from other law enforcement agencies to shut them down.”

The crooks also steal paperwork and documents like passports so they can later create more fake identities, he added.

Detectives learned the crews are removing diamonds and other stones from jewelry to make the stolen goods harder to identify or trace.

Eimiller, the FBI spokeswoman, said the bureau had contacted its FBI representative in Santiago, Chile, for assistance. Local police agencies and the FBI cannot access criminal histories of foreign nationals and rely on help from FBI agents stationed in other countries, she said.

In the last eight months, authorities in London and Australia have made arrests to disrupt similar Chilean theft rings, according to published reports. Australian police say the syndicate stole more than $1 million in goods from stores and homes.

Ventura County Sheriff’s Det. Theodore Stern, lead investigator on the case, said the thieves had developed a “professional system” to strike homes that appear unoccupied.Investigators are working with the FBI to check records in Chile, he said.

“It’s in the hundreds and hundreds,” he said about the thefts. “It’s a huge issue. They’re taking advantage of our immigration laws. Officers are working hard to catch these guys.”

In Ventura County, burglars have immediately sold the property or shipped it back to Chile, Stern said. Deputies, he added, have recovered some of the valuables sold locally.

In March, the owner of Nuggets & Carats, the Laguna Niguel jewelry store, worked with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to set up a sting operation after burglars struck his store. They had cut the electricity, allowing batteries in the alarm system to drain, then returned 24 hours later to cut a hole in the roof before emptying display cases and a safe.

“They got everything my family worked for,” owner Brian Hassine said about the March burglary. “They cleaned us out.”

Last week, the same crew employed the same tactic. This time, the alarm company notified Hassine. Deputies were waiting when a man cut a hole in the roof. They moved in, but the suspect escaped through the roof of the large shopping center. Deputies stopped a black SUV associated with the crew but made no arrests. Officials said an investigation is ongoing but declined to discuss specifics.

Hassine said deputies at the scene told him the suspects were Chileans.

Last month, the city of Hidden Hills sent out 2,000 newsletters warning residents about 11 incidents in the western foothills of the San Fernando Valley.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department believes most, if not all, of the incidents are directly related to “Chilean Tourist Burglars,” the newsletter said.

In the January Simi Valley arrests, the men, ages 19 to 30, listed North Hollywood addresses and were arrested after officers conducted surveillance of them in Upland, police said.

“We have arrested some significant players,” Stern said.

“It’s very likely there are lots of suspects out there.”

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com...423-story.html

Chilean burglary gangs causing havoc in Southern California, law enforcement says

The thieves, using travel visas to enter the country, target high-end homes, cars and businesses


From left, Eduardo Queralto, Jonathan Garay, Kevin Castillo have been arrested for multiple burglaries in Simi Valley. They are in the United States on temporary visas from Chile. (Courtesy of Simi Valley Police Department)

By SCOTT SCHWEBKE | sschwebke@scng.com | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: May 12, 2019 at 8:47 am | UPDATED: May 12, 2019 at 8:53 am


Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies throughout Southern California are joining forces to catch a new breed of brazen criminals using travel visas to enter the U.S. to pillage homes, businesses and automobiles.

Dubbed by authorities as “burglary tourism,” sophisticated gangs comprised of Chilean nationals are suspected of committing a string of thefts in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties, including a $1.2 million heist in March at a Laguna Niguel jewelry store.

In fact, the situation is so serious the FBI huddled Thursday in Beverly Hills with various Southern California law enforcement agencies to share intelligence and discuss the gangs’ tactics.

“We know it’s a problem that is happening in other states and countries around the world,” FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. “Southern California seems to have seen a dramatic increase in the last few months.”

Other federal agencies also are monitoring Chilean gang activity in Southern California.

“U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Los Angeles is closely tracking this trend and is fully engaged with our federal, state and local strategic law enforcement partners,” said Jaime Ruiz, a spokesman for the agency said.

In addition, the Chilean government also has weighed in.

“This situation — an isolated case — is being monitored by our law enforcement agencies, which have been coordinating their efforts with the American agencies, in order to enhance preventive actions to avoid the repetition of such crimes,” said Jorge Canelas, the press and cultural attaché for the Chilean embassy in Washington, D.C.

Visas for tourism or business

The gangs are entering Southern California on ESTA — Electronic System for Travel Authorization — waivers that allow citizens of 38 countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for 90 days or less without first obtaining a visa, according to authorities.

Chile is the only South American country participating in ESTA. The system collects biographic information and requires applicants to answer eligibility questions about communicable diseases and arrests and convictions for certain crimes, along with past history of visa revocation or deportation.

Authorization through ESTA allows tourists to travel by ship or plane only to the U.S., but does not determine whether they will actually be admitted into the country. That decision is made by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers when they arrive.

Customs and Border Patrol officers employ a variety of databases, ask tough questions and use their intuition to prevent criminals from entering the U.S., said a federal law enforcement officer who was not authorized to speak publicly.

‘Needle in a haystack’

“We are constantly looking for a needle in a haystack,” the officer said. “But by using strategies, we make that haystack smaller.”

Although many Chileans who travel to Southern California have valid reasons for visiting, others seem to have nefarious motives, according to authorities.

In April, Simi Valley police — working with the Ventura County Auto Theft Task Force and the California Highway Patrol — arrested three Chilean nationals in connection with a series of vehicle burglaries.

Key fob jamming device

The suspects allegedly had used an electronic jamming device to interrupt the signal from victims’ remote key fobs to prevent vehicles from being locked. Victims would press the lock button on their remote and walk away believing the vehicle was locked, Semi Valley police Cmdr. Alan Thompson said.

The suspects were then able to enter the vehicles and remove valuables.

“Although they are not the only inventive criminals out there, it’s the first time I have heard of a vehicle’s remote signal being disabled by a jamming device,” Thompson said.

In January, four Chileans believed to have committed 20 residential burglaries in Simi Valley as well as other heists in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Alameda, and Santa Clara counties were also apprehended by police.

The suspects typically entered residences through a back door or window with a pry tool and would often use furniture to barricade the front door, according to authorities. Homes were then ransacked and valuables stolen.

LA County hard hit

Los Angeles County also has been hit hard by the gangs.
In March, the city of Hidden Hills published in its newsletter a story about an “unprecedented string” of seven burglaries alleged to have been committed by Chilean tourists.

“A simple Google search of Chilean tourist burglars will show the sophistication of this criminal enterprise,” the newsletter warns residents.

In Torrance, police officers in December advised a homeowners group in Hollywood Riviera that four Chilean nationals on tourist visas had been arrested in connection a pair of burglaries in their large condominium complex.

Police swooped in to catch them after a homeowner was alerted remotely by a home security system and called 911.

Other burglaries by suspected Chilean gangs have been reported in Australia and Canada.

Information was not immediately available regarding whether authorities believe the the gangs are selling stolen items in the U.S. or shipping the goods back to Chile.

Also unclear was how the U.S. justice system is dealing with Chilean gang members who have been arrested. At the Torrance homeowners meeting, one resident said, police told them the four arrested a couple months earlier had already fled back to Chile.

https://www.ocregister.com/2019/05/1...orcement-says/

Our doors are wide-open ...... come get you some of that "milk and honey" at our expense!

Chilean crooks using visa waiver program to enter US, rob homes: Long Island police