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The FBI is warning sports leagues that star athletes who display valuables on social media are vulnerable to burglars familiar with their often-public travel schedules, according to the OCDA.
The bureau recently issued the best-practices memo as part of a long-standing practice of communicating with private businesses about crime trends, a U.S. official briefed on the matter said.
The memo, a “liaison information report,” urges the leagues to advise athletes to limit imagery of valuables, such as cash, jewels and electronics, on their public accounts, the official said.
Star athletes and their loved ones who have become victims of burglaries this year include Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis Jr., Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić and the fiancée of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
Authorities have alleged South American crews are involved in a rash of burglaries targeting high-wealth estates from Southern California to Dallas to the Midwest in recent years.
Los Angeles police, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office and the FBI have been investigating and helping to prosecute burglars believed to be part of criminal groups from South America for several years.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer has long decried Chileans’ eligibility for visa waivers that allow them to come to the United States with the little scrutiny. Criminals from Chile and other South American nations travel here, he said, through the Visa Waiver Program, which is offered to 42 nations in exchange for similar ease-of-travel measures for Americans. The waiver can be granted through the automated Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). Those who get the waiver can stay in the United States for 90 days.
“For the last 18 months, I have been sounding the alarm about a dangerous loophole in the ESTA Visa Waiver program that is being exploited by organized crime rings from Chile to enter the United States unlimited times over a two-year period without background checks,” Spitzer said. Spitzer said thousands of Chileans have traveled on the waiver without much scrutiny, creating a “loophole” for burglars to access the mansions of U.S. pro athletes and others with some ease.
“These criminals aren’t coming to the United States to visit Disneyland and other tourist destinations — they are coming here to steal, terrorizing Americans in their own homes,” Spitzer said by email Monday. Spitzer would like to see Chileans removed from waiver eligibility.
The State Department, which administers visas, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.
