(NewsNation) — Authorities in Southern California are reporting a growing trend of “burglary tourism” in which thieves from South America are entering the U.S. under the guise of tourism, then stealing from homes in wealthy neighborhoods.
Sgt. Angela Ellison, public information officer at the Fishers Police Department in Indiana, joined “NewsNation Now” to discuss the trend, saying these criminals study their targets before striking.
“Unfortunately for us, they’re well organized and they do their research,” Ellison said. “So they will follow folks, they’ll do surveillance in a neighborhood to see when folks are not at home and then they’ll target them.”
In February, the Los Angeles Police Department arrested a 17-year-old Chilean fugitive after a security camera captured the license plate of their 2024 Hyundai Tucson amid a series of burglaries across East Hollywood.
In the case of Chile, authorities suspect some criminals are using the tourist visa, which does not require a background check, to plan and carry out heists in the U.S. Police say once in the country, the criminals loot wealthy homes and send their earnings back home.
This trend is impacting upper-middle-class neighborhoods outside California, as well. Ellison says in her city, Asian American business owners are often targets of burglary tourism.
“With a lot of the Asian business owners, the whole family works in that business together and so when they are all at work, that leaves the home unattended and these groups will do their research. They may be in town for a few days just specifically looking for targets, and when they know the business owners, which is typically a family, is at work, they’ll burglarize the home,” Ellison told NewsNation.
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told The LA Times the South American groups mostly hit wealthy neighborhoods where homes have jewelry and high-value items that can easily be exchanged for cash.
