Chilean authorities introduced Tuesday that six helpful watches stolen from Canadian actor Keanu Reeves have been handed over to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), months after recovering them in a police raid.
The FBI will organize for the watches’ return to Reeves, together with an engraved Rolex value no less than US$9,500. The 60-year-old actor’s six watches are valued at a complete of US$125,000, in keeping with Marcelo Varas, a police officer from Chile’s theft investigation squad.
Chilean prosecutors advised reporters that Reeves had recognized the watches as these stolen from his Los Angeles house throughout a string of high-profile burglaries in December 2023.
The announcement was made as Trump’s secretary of Homeland Safety, Kristi Noem, arrived within the South American nation for conferences with Chilean officers about transnational crime, amongst different points.
In line with authorities, the watches stolen from the John Wick actor’s Hollywood Hills house almost two years in the past turned up in Santiago, Chile’s capital, when police raided houses and uncovered stolen vehicles, iPhones, luxurious watches and designer purses.
That operation coincided with one other Chilean investigation, coordinated with the FBI, right into a spate of burglaries by South America-based crime teams focusing on multi-million-dollar houses within the U.S., many belonging to celebrities {and professional} athletes, reminiscent of Kansas Metropolis Chiefs soccer participant Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes.
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In February, seven Chilean nationals have been charged with conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property over burglaries wherein they stole valuables value over US$2 million, in keeping with the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace in Center District Florida.
In line with the criticism, the people have been members of a South American theft group that burglarized the houses {of professional} athletes round the USA.
The U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace mentioned the people focused high-profile athletes within the Nationwide Soccer League (NFL) and Nationwide Basketball Affiliation (NBA), once they have been away or enjoying in skilled video games on the instances of the burglaries.
Varas mentioned authorities have been nonetheless investigating any hyperlink between the theft of Reeves’ watches and the opposite high-profile burglaries.
In April, police in Chile introduced the arrest of 23 residents over the string of break-ins in the USA. The raid, codenamed “Operation Pennsylvania,” passed off throughout dozens of houses in Santiago and led to the seizure of US$1.36 million value of products, in keeping with police.
“This phenomenon of worldwide thieves has regretfully existed in our nation for a few years, but it surely’s sadly been on the rise not too long ago,” prosecutor Eduardo Baeza mentioned throughout a press convention in April.
Johnny Fica, head of the Investigative Police of Chile’s (PDI) cash and asset laundering division, mentioned lots of the detainees had no legal information in Chile however have been profession criminals overseas that laundered belongings in Chile.
Fica mentioned the investigation started final 12 months and was carried out with data from the FBI. They confirmed photos from the raid which featured drawers crammed with sneakers, designer purses, luxurious watches and extra.
“What you see is a part of a lifetime of luxurious that they had right here in Chile. A whole lot of them favored to point out off,” Fica mentioned, including that lots of the teams have been household or close-knit models.
“Their purpose was clear, they wished to benefit from the income of their crimes on this nation and so they didn’t skimp on spending as a result of they felt like that they had, till now, impunity,” Fica added.
— With information from The Related Press and Reuters
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