Four Chilean men were arrested in connection with a string of burglaries at multimillion-dollar homes in Ohio after a traffic stop in which the authorities found what appeared to be items taken from the residence of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. The four were indicted on Tuesday on state charges including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and participating in a criminal gang, the New York Times reports. They were arrested in a larger federal investigation into burglaries by South American crime groups at multimillion-dollar homes across the U.S. Several occurred at the homes of well-known professional athletes. So far, investigators “have arrested at least six different South American burglary groups, five of which were Chilean nationals.” In the Ohio case, the four men — Jordan Francisco Sanchez, 22; Alexander Esteban Huaiquil-Chavez, 24; Bastian Alejandro Morales, 23; and Sergio Andres Cabello, 38 — were stopped on Jan. 10 in Harmony Township after a traffic violation. Authorities had followed the men as they rode in a sport utility vehicle from a hotel in Fairborn, Ohio.
All four were either in the U.S. illegally or had “overstayed their permissions,” according to an official affidavit. The SUV driver, Sanchez, did not have a valid driver’s license when he was pulled over by Ohio State Highway Patrol. The police smelled marijuana in the vehicle and took all of the occupants’ identification, three of which, authorities said were fake. Although the Ohio Attorney General’s Office would not confirm whether the men were involved in the burglary at Burrow’s home, officers who searched the vehicle found a Louisiana State University shirt and a Bengals hat, both of which are teams that Burrow has played for. They also found burglary tools in the glove box known to be used by the “South American Theft Group,” previously described by the FBI as an international criminal gang. Investigators then used the men’s phone data and surveillance footage to identify them as potential suspects involved in the burglary of a Cincinnati area home on Dec. 9 — the same day Burrow’s home was broken into while he was in Dallas playing against the Cowboys.