Federal authorities in Los Angeles announced Wednesday the arrests and prosecutions of six people and a business suspected of organizing and directing so-called 'tourist burglary' rings, in which organized groups of thieves visit the United States on easy-to-get tourist visas and break into homes, steal from businesses, and commit other financial crimes.
"The effects of crime tourism are being felt very acutely here in Southern California," said U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada. "This group not just facilitated crime tourism, but in many cases, actively directed it."
An indictment made public Wednesday morning accused the group of taking part in a variety of illegal enterprises as far back as 2018 and continuing through 2024, and included allegations of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, wire fraud, and money laundering.
Estrada said the leaders and other participants operated a rental car business in the San Fernando Valley called, "Driver Power Rentals," which, in reality, was a front for running teams of tourist thieves from South America, primarily Chile, who were dispatched to specific areas and businesses to carry out the thefts.
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The two leaders, identified by Estrada as Juan Carlos Thola and Ana Maria Arriagada, could each face more than 200 years in prison if they're convicted.
"Thola has been running, in essence, the Hertz rental car business for thieves," said Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko, who said his office had filed charges against more than 130 suspected tourist burglars since 2018.
"Today, however, thanks to our federal partners, a behind-the-scenes mastermind who promoted and provided foreign nationals to commit those crimes, has been arrested and charged," he said.
TOURIST BURGLARS
According to the indictment Thola and Arriagada would rent luxury cars to thieves for around $500 per week, and required would-be burglars to obtain false identity documents.
Stolen merchandise was shipped to the ringleaders at a FedEx store in Sherman Oaks, where the organizers allegedly retrieved the packages and 'fenced' the goods, with a percentage of the proceeds paid back to the thieves, the indictment said.
The leaders also told the thieves to use stolen credit and debit cards as quickly as possible, "to max out the stolen credit and debit cards by purchasing electronics, gift cards, designer purses, other high-end luxury goods, or other items before the stolen cards could be frozen or cancelled."
These types of tourist burglary rings are suspected in a series of recent home burglaries in the San Fernando Valley and West Los Angeles, other law enforcement officials have said, based on specific tactics used by the thieves and other evidence.
Earlier this year the LAPD announced it was forming a South American Theft Group task force to focus on these groups and the methods they use to resell stolen goods.
Local law enforcement agencies have complained for years that the easy availability of tourist visas in certain countries in Central and South America was being abused by organized criminal groups, and urged federal lawmakers to restrict visits or require criminal background checks before issuing the visas.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, who's agency participated in the federal task force that conducted the investigation that led to these charges, said the application for an "ESTA" tourist visa cost only $22 and could be completed online.
Crime data published by the LAPD shows there's been a steady increase in residential burglaries in LA in recent years, although the number of break-ins is still lower than the residential burglary rates in the mid-2010s.
