For months, daring groups of thieves linked to the South American gangs have made lots of jewelry and money from the houses of the largest superstars in sport, targeting the tastes of the NFL Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
Depending on access to delivery neighbors or maintenance workers Warnings issued by NFL and NBA.
But in recent weeks, the United States investigators have carried out a handful of arrests linked to at least one of the high-level robberies and has discovered stolen sports memories, jewelry and arts in units of Storage in New Jersey.
A group of Chilean men stopped in January while driving in Ohio was accused on Monday of having stolen nearly $ 300,000 in baggage of creators, watches and jewelry of the Bengals of Bengals cincinnati Joe Burrow’s house. The photos showed a suspect bearing a sparkling necklace with the Burrow jersey number he had carried during the interviews, according to a non -sealed federal complaint on Wednesday.
“These people seem to be the alleged tip of the iceberg,” said Kenneth Parker, the American lawyer in southern Ohio, who thinks that men are working with South American flight rings that have for years have been Opulent houses from side to side.
AP correspondent, Julie Walker, reports arrests in luxury burglaries to target the NFL, NBA players are the “tip of the iceberg”.
Certain luxury watches and jewelry stolen in houses across the country – not only those belonging to athletes – ended up being sold in a lender on the Diamond district of Manhattan and hidden in neighboring storage units, announced Tuesday Federal authorities published Tuesday that I Accuse two closing men the articles.
Whether the whole burglaries chain targeting athletes be connected to the same crews in South America or if these groups work together, it is not clear. The federal authorities conducting the surveys have been tight since The FBI warned in December These criminal organizations attacked professional athletes.
Superstar athletes targeted in home burglary
Investigators say that international crime rings have looted high -end houses for years, but now they are dealing with some of the biggest names in the NFL, NBA and NHL.
The thieves burst into the houses of the teammates of the Chiefs of Kansas City Mahomes and Kelce a few days from each other in October when they played in New Orleans and Kelce Girlfriend Superstar Taylor Swift I watched the match from the stands.
Mahomes and Kelce on Sunday will try to lead the chefs to a record Three Super Bowl consecutive securities.
Jewelry valued at around $ 30,000 was stolen from NBA All-Star Luka Dononic’s house in Dallas in December. Pittsburgh Penguins Star Evgeni Malkin reported a home invasion in January that occurred while his team played at home.
Similarities in the breakage chain
The law enforcement officials warned the sports leagues last fall that the thieves had struck the days of match when they knew that the players would not be at home, often breaking through the rear windows.
Some groups have developed their objectives by pretending to be home delivery drivers or joggers in isolated neighborhoods.
Burrow’s house in Ohio, which is in a closed street nestled along a wooded area, was robbed while he was in Dallas for a football match on Monday evening in December. The men in charge of the invasion were found weeks later while traveling with a Husky glass breakup tool that one of them bought from Home Depot, wrote an FBI agent in an affidavit.
The players were invited not only to strengthen their security at home, but also to avoid publishing their fate on social networks.
Thieves targeting items that can be sold underground
The flight rings focus on species and items that can be sold on the black market, such as jewelry, watches and luxury bags, according to a NBA warning based on FBI information.
The two men accused this week in New York were accused of having bought stolen watchesJewelry and other dear articles from various burglaries teams and returning to their lender on wages in Manhattan since 2020.
Judicial documents indicated that the pair was linked to five distinct burglaries teams and linked one of the two suspects to men accused of having entered the residence of a “high -level athlete in Ohio” the same day as Burrow’s house has been struck.
On Friday, a judge denied the deposit of the owners of wages, saying that it would be “ironic” to release them just before the Super Bowl.
“This is one of the Super Bowl’s defendants will have to look since the sidelines,” wrote the judge of the American district court William Kuntz in his decision. “They will not be players this weekend.”