Officials are warning of a new theft trend involving foreign criminals who use State Department travel programs to raid wealthy areas of the United States and loot homes for profit.
They use cell phone jammers to jam Wi-Fi networks and expensive security systems. In one case, investigators caught the suspect wearing a ghillie suit and hiding in the bushes to sneak inside, waiting for the homeowner to leave.
This crime was possible because Chile participates in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, which allows tourists and business travelers to spend 90 days without obtaining a visa or going through a thorough vetting process. You will be able to enter the United States within a few days.
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Surveillance video shows the thieves climbing onto a second-floor balcony and entering a California home through a sliding door. (Orange County District Attorney’s Office)
Only 41 countries around the world have been approved for the Visa Waiver Program, including key U.S. allies such as Britain, France and South Korea.
Chile, which the State Department calls a regional leader in rule of law and economic stability, is the only Latin American country on the list.
Authorities say thieves are now using this opportunity to fly into wealthy areas of the United States and loot homes.
Ring video shows the robber wandering around the victim’s backyard at night with a flashlight in hand. (Orange County District Attorney’s Office)
They often enter through the second floor, where homeowners are less likely to have alarms installed on doors and windows. The stolen property is then sold off in the United States or abroad.
Todd Spitzer, district attorney for Orange County, California, has been warning about this problem since last year.
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“These are not crimes of opportunity,” he warned in July. “These are carefully calculated and planned attacks on what should be our safe spaces: our homes.”
In one case, the robbers broke in while an elderly woman was still inside, causing her to panic and hide in a closet, a spokesperson for Spitzer’s office told Fox News Digital. . Waterfront homes with private docks were attacked by robbers arriving by boat while residents were taking their children to soccer practice.
Police recovered the ghillie suit, but prosecutors say the thieves hid for hours while searching a California home before breaking in. (Orange County District Attorney’s Office)
In another incident, thieves made off with a 6-year-old girl’s piggy bank full of Christmas and birthday money, Orange County Prosecutor Kimberly Edds said Tuesday.
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Mr. Spitzer’s office said Chile is supposed to conduct its own criminal background checks and share the information with the United States for the waiver program, but has failed to do so. As a result, if a career criminal is arrested on U.S. soil, he or she may be treated as a first-time offender.
Prosecutors said the thieves climbed into second-story windows, and it’s unlikely the homeowner installed an alarm on the door. (Orange County District Attorney’s Office)
Police in Southern California are reporting an increase in such robberies. That includes Orange County, where Mr. Spitzer is suing the Biden administration for failing to respond to public records requests, including producing documents on the issue.
The Los Angeles Police Department recently established a task force to combat the international crime epidemic after repeatedly arresting a 17-year-old Chilean boy and two adult accomplices in a series of robberies in the Pacific Palisades. The LA Times reported this past weekend.
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Golden State isn’t the only target, however. Similar crimes have been reported in Michigan, New Jersey, and New York. Edds said prosecutors discovered that a group drove across the country from Florida to Alaska, breaking into homes along the way.
Top law enforcement officials told Fox News that the crime wave could be halted quickly if the State Department revoked Chile’s status under the Visa Waiver Program, which allows Chilean citizens to travel to the United States without vetting. He said it was sexual.
Mr. Spitzer’s office is also calling on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to use his authority to remove Chile from the program.
Fox News’ William La Jeunesse and Bonny Chu contributed to this report.
