Brandon Harer, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, Cropped by Resist the Mainstream

On Friday, California police arrested three Chilean men in the suburban town of Irvine, just days after the Los Angeles Police Department formed a task force to address an international crime ring targeting luxury homes in the U.S. 

The arrests came as home robberies in Irvine spiked unexpectedly, given that the town has one of the lowest crime rates in Orange County, about 40 miles south of Los Angeles. 

Irvine police officers had been conducting surveillance work when they spotted a “suspicious vehicle” near Bommer Canyon, an area with a high concentration of high-value homes. 

Police said there were three men inside the car who “were not from the area and appeared to have no reason to be in Irvine.”

When officers attempted to stop the vehicle, the drivers sped off, but were eventually caught, and officers searched the vehicle, finding burglary tools, pet deterrent, shoe covers, and masks. 

“Based on the totality of circumstances, the trio appeared to be casing the area to commit residential burglaries and were arrested for conspiracy to commit burglary, providing false information to a police officer, and possession of burglary tools,” Irvine police said in a statement. 

The three men were identified as Julio Cordova-Martinez, 55, Ricardo Navarete-Loyola, 19, and Leopoldo Jara-Araya, 57. All three of them were Chilean nationals and booked at the Orange County Jail.

The arrest comes as an increasing number of international crime groups have entered the U.S. by taking advantage of a State Department travel program, the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, which allows tourists and business travelers to enter America for 90 days or less without having to obtain a visa or go through a thorough vetting process. Their goal has been to investigate affluent U.S. neighborhoods and burglarize homes. 

The majority of these groups have stemmed from Chile, but law enforcement has seen individuals from other South American countries, including Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. 

Last week, the Los Angeles Police Department formed a task force to counter these groups. Saying last week that it “recognizes the increase in burglaries where homes in affluent neighborhoods are targeted.”

However, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer has been warning about this issue since summer of 2023, calling the burglaries “carefully calculated and planned.” Spitzer filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration for failing to respond to public records requests involving documentation on the issue.