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North America’s top professional sports league has issued a warning to its players about the growing threat from high-tech organized thieves who favor passports, cutting-edge technology and 90-day calendars.
The NBA memo, citing FBI intelligence, links the crime to a “transnational South American theft ring” that specifically targets “professional athletes and other wealthy individuals.” These groups are known for using “sophisticated technology” such as proactive surveillance, drones, signal jamming devices, and other cutting-edge technology. The NFL highlighted the risk posed by what it called an “organized and skilled group” of robbers targeting wealthy athletes.
The alert does not name the victims, but the homes of athletes, including Kansas City Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce and Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis, were The order was issued after a recent robbery. The methods described in the memo are very similar to a wave of break-ins targeting wealthy Southern California residents.
Federal and local authorities in Los Angeles and Orange County say the infiltration by what they call “robber travelers” – criminals from Central and South America who entered the United States legally on 90-day tourist visas under the electronic travel system reported that there is a rapid increase. Authorization (ESTA). But instead of bringing swimwear and sunscreen, police say these individuals are armed with disguises, video equipment, trail cameras and Wi-Fi jamming devices. They target wealthy areas and gated communities and then evade detection.
These “traveller robbers” have been around for at least five years, but their activity has intensified in recent days as information such as addresses and property photos has become increasingly available.
“A transnational gang may not know everything about the homes they’re breaking into,” Los Angeles Police Department Chief of Detectives Alan Hamilton told NBC News on Friday. “However, there is always the possibility that these suspects know who they are and are monitoring the players’ social media and movements.”
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley’s home was also burglarized in September while he was watching an NFL game, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
Portis posted on Instagram on Nov. 3 that “valuable possessions” were stolen from his home during his team’s game the day before.
Kelce and Mahomes’ home in Kansas City was broken into hours apart in October. The robbers fled with $20,000 in cash and caused $1,000 in damage to Kelce’s home, according to a police report obtained by Kansas City’s NBC affiliate KSHB.
Mahomes called the ordeal “frustrating” and “disappointing.”
This trend is spreading to other cities, including Chicago, Houston, and Dallas.
“Law enforcement has long known that this pattern of crime exists throughout the Midwest,” Hamilton said. “They’re not immune to it.”
Law enforcement agencies around the world, including the FBI, have been tracking these criminal networks for years, and suspects linked to South American gangs have emerged in nearly every state, Hamilton said.
“This is absolutely military-grade technology,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer told NBC News over the summer. “The people we arrest here in Orange County have criminal records from the country of Chile.”
If Southern California law enforcement agencies make progress in reducing these crimes, these operations may be further transferred to other parts of the country.
The NBA and NFL urged players to take precautions, including activating alarm systems and surveillance cameras, storing valuables in safes and avoiding excessive sharing on social media.
“In most of the incidents, the FBI reported that alarm systems were installed in each home but were not working,” the NBA memo, obtained by NBC News on Friday, said. “The FBI also reported that all of the homes were unoccupied and, in most cases, no dogs were present.”
This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:
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