Organized crime gangs have now begun targeting San Diego’s wealthiest neighborhoods in an operation dubbed “burglary tourism,” according to a shocking new report.
“The house is carefully selected. They watch from rental cars blending into wealthy neighborhoods. They are masked, gloved and care little about the cameras. They are in and out of your house in just a matter of minutes,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan told NBC this week.
“When a burglary happens, it’s your house, you never feel the same again. This is organized. He’s not a child,” he added.
The DA says the gangs originated in South America and are taking advantage of the visa waiver program that allows residents of certain countries to come to the United States after filling out an online form.
Stephan said that although the program is supposed to help boost tourism, it has become the “anti-burglary tourist visa.”
Scammers target goods they know they can snap up quickly, such as “jewelry, collectibles, cash and high-end handbags.”
A hooded group prowls around a house in an affluent San Diego suburb. Authorities say they are non-citizens who are in the United States on a tourist visa.
“The house is carefully selected. They watch from rental cars blending into wealthy neighborhoods. They are masked, gloved and care little about cameras,” the San Diego County prosecutor said this week.
Knife-wielding South American gangs have been rampaging through Los Angeles highways throughout 2024, targeting terrified jewelers in brazen daylight robberies.
So far, authorities have managed to apprehend eight suspects who are Chilean nationals, Stephan said. The prosecutor said that as noncitizens, the suspects are difficult to identify.
“The motherland has a responsibility to take care of business and ensure that it does not authorize these visas to unvetted people with criminal records,” the prosecutor continued.
The most recent robbery by a tourist gang in the San Diego area occurred on March 29.
In February, a group stole a safe containing assault rifles in the city’s Mira Mesa neighborhood, the San Diego Union Tribune reported at the time. The crime remains unsolved.
Despite existing extradition laws in countries that benefit from the waiver program, Stephan said authorities prefer to reserve this right for the most serious crimes.
The waiver system allows people from certain countries to enter the United States for 90 days without restrictions.
Conservatives claim that once here, many South
In the Detroit area, officials said their groups used military tactics and had equipment that allowed them to jam alarm systems.
A Republican sheriff in Michigan is calling on President Joe Biden to end the waiver system for Chile, where many suspects are from.
Meanwhile, 2,300 miles away in Detroit, authorities said this week they were bracing for a new wave of burglaries by Chilean tourists, The Detroit News reports.
Local authorities said burglaries began in the city’s affluent suburbs in 2023. The main targets of these crimes were Asian American families.
Michigan investigators described the group as using “military-style tactics” and wearing “camouflage clothing.” They are armed with electronic devices capable of jamming home alarms and breaking into safes.
“We saw these gangs coming to Bloomfield Township in February 2022, and this crew was captured and linked to similar cases in Indiana,” Bloomfield Township Police Officer Nick Soley told The Detroit this week News.
“We didn’t see any cases for a while, and then towards the end of the summer (2023), we got hit hard until Thanksgiving week,” Soley continued.
“We knew these gangs would be back, and we are confident they are back. We think they’re going to stay, so we’re definitely preparing for that.
Local Republican Sheriff Michael Bouchard of Oakland County called on President Joe Biden to remove Chile from the waiver program because of these crimes.
Other burglary gangs enter the United States illegally from countries like Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.
Closer to San Diego, in Los Angeles, criminals brazenly cut tires, smash windows and even install trackers on their victims’ cars.
A jeweler, Stacy Nolan Soper, found herself in danger on October 18 while driving home from the jewelry district in downtown Los Angeles with a bag full of valuable merchandise.
Soper’s vehicle was suddenly ambushed by masked thieves on the ramp from the westbound 10 Freeway to the southbound 405.
“It looked like he was going to attack me,” Soper told the LA Times. As traffic slowed, a car in front of her stopped suddenly and three men, two wearing ski masks, attacked her vehicle – slashing tires, smashing windows, one of them pulling out a gun – looking like something from an action movie.
Soper’s experience mirrors several similar incidents targeting jewelers on Los Angeles freeways.
Another Hong Kong jeweler was robbed on eastbound Route 10 six days later.
The shocking moment the driver was driven off the road and then robbed in broad daylight as he knelt on the road with his arms in the air was caught on camera.
Four men wearing ski masks intentionally crashed into a black Alfa Romeo on eastbound I-10 west of Arlington Avenue in South Los Angeles.
A jeweler, Stacy Nolan Soper, found herself in danger on October 18 while driving home from the jewelry district in downtown Los Angeles with a bag full of valuable merchandise.
“The victim’s vehicle was disabled, while the suspects proceeded to rob the victim,” the California Highway Patrol later confirmed.
A passenger in a passing car filmed the terrifying moment the thieves surrounded the victim and began searching his vehicle.
Police said the suspects, who were armed with a hammer and a crowbar, then fled the scene in a white Chevrolet Malibu.
A witness, who also filmed the incident, later told Eyewitness News “it seems like they knew what he had in his car…I felt really bad for him, I thought it was finished for him but he did the right thing.”
Organized crime and theft have become a growing problem for the Democratic-led city, with officials blaming cashless bail policies.
This growing trend, including additional thefts in Orange County, reveals a coordinated effort by South American gangs.
Authorities, including the LAPD’s Commercial Crimes Division and the California Highway Patrol, are investigating the crimes.
According to Captain Francis Boateng, the robberies follow a pattern: thieves target jewelers in transit, creating scenarios to force them to stop, such as tire punctures or staged accidents.
These highway heists resemble a scene from an action movie, as they exploit the potential of highways to trap victims and delay authorities’ response.
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton noted the continued presence of these gangs, while noting that recent incidents indicate an uptick in their activity.
“There’s not one team that’s committing all of these crimes,” he told the LA Times. “Basically, these individuals group together for individual tasks or series of tasks.”
The Los Angeles Police Department launched a task force in March to try to crack down on tourist burglars.
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