For months, bands of thieves linked to South American gangs have been making off with piles of jewelry and cash from the homes of sports superstars like pro football's Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. Pillagers have deployed drones and signal jamming devices, sometimes posing as delivery drivers or maintenance workers, to gain access to gated neighborhoods and thwart home security systems, say the National Football League and National Basketball Association, reports the Associated Press. Investigators have made a handful of arrests connected to at least one high-profile heist and discovered stolen sports memorabilia, jewelry and art stuffed into storage units in New Jersey.
Chilean men stopped in January while driving in Ohio were charged with stealing nearly $300,000 worth of designer luggage, watches and jewelry from Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow's home. Photos showed one suspect wearing a sparkly necklace with Burrow’s jersey number that he had worn during interviews. “These individuals seem to be the alleged tip of the iceberg,” said Kenneth Parker, the U.S. Attorney in southern Ohio, who believes the men are working with South American theft rings that have been ransacking opulent homes from coast to coast. Some luxury watches and jewelry stolen from homes across the country were sold at a pawnshop in Manhattan’s Diamond District and stashed in nearby storage units. Whether the string of burglaries targeting athletes are connected to the same crews from South America isn’t clear. Law enforcement officials warned sports leagues last fall that thieves had been striking on game days when they knew the players would not be home, often smashing through rear windows.
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