The LAPD has launched a task force to combat the threat of 'burglary tourists'. Internationals from South America. Some have been accused of over 30 robberies throughout southern CaliforniaThe Los Angeles Police Department has launched a task force to try to crack down on 'burglary tourists' who use the US tourism visa system to commit crimes.
The suspect and his two accomplices - 32-year-old Grecia Romanduski Gaete Castillo and 23-year-old Sebastian Jesus Parraguez Soto, all from Chile - were taken into custody, where they admitted to breaking into several homes in the region. The teenager falsified Venezuelan identification and continuously got away from the LAPD by making excuses that his parents had left him alone in the country with a friend of the family.Experts say the issue has been increasing over the past five years, as South Americans continue to use the tourist visa system to rob Americans.
In more conservative Orange County, District Attorney Todd Spitzer has gone full boar on the crime tourists who have been behind hundreds of break-ins.Experts say the issue has been increasing over the past five years, as South Americans use the tourist visa system to rob Americans 'The number of crimes tied to these kind of crews are way, way up,' said LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton, despite overall burglaries being down.
Hamilton said that these groups are rarely armed but are more likely equipped with what's known as 'jamming' devices to access a home's WiFi and potentially unlock home security systems in affluent neighborhoods'We're in the process of connecting with other agencies impacted by these organized groups coming to the country specifically to engage in this criminal activity.
Chilean Felipe Leiva Solis, 33, was apprehended multiple times last year after being suspected of being part of 'an organized burglary ring responsible for a minimum of ten residential burglaries in Glendale,' authorities said. 'I can tell you that we have a significant increase in burglaries from organized groups that are outside this country, that are coming into the country, and they are targeting high-end residents,' LAPD Chief Dominic Choi said.
Leiva Solis is being held without bail ahead of a court appearance next week, having pled not guilty to three counts of burglary and one count of conspiracy to commit burglary.