ICE arrests 9 Chileans linked to South American theft group operating in NJ

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Newark officers have arrested nine Chileans linked to a South American Theft Groups (SATG) operating in New Jersey.

ICE Newark, working with FBI Newark’s Criminal Enterprise agents and Joint Organized Crime Task Force agents, made the arrests in Jersey City and Princeton.

Each individual arrested was found to have overstayed their visas; many were found to have extensive criminal histories involving theft and related offenses in multiple states. It remains unclear how or why they were released into the country with criminal records or why they weren’t deported after racking up extensive criminal records.

ICE Newark is withholding the names of individuals arrested due to an ongoing investigation. However, it released information about those agents arrested.

One Chilean national illegally in the U.S. “has prior arrests in Florida for petit theft, retail theft, and use of an anti-shoplifting device, as well as fraudulent credit card use in Tennessee,” ICE said. “This criminal alien is also wanted in multiple states for similar crimes including larceny and burglary.”

Another is an active SATG member “previously arrested for larceny in Florida and arrested again in New Jersey for receiving stolen property,” ICE said.

Another is a “criminal alien with prior arrests for petit larceny, grand theft, and DUI, who also has an outstanding warrant in Florida for failure to appear,” ICE said.

Another is a known associate of a SATG with an outstanding warrant for burglary in Pennsylvania.

Such crimes not only violate the terms of lawful entry, including negating visa status, but are also grounds for deportation and barring future entry into the U.S., according to federal immigration law.

SATGs are transnational criminal organizations “known for conducting sophisticated trade craft to conduct high-end residential and business burglaries, as well as other property crimes that significantly impact communities and businesses across the United States,” ICE said.

“We are committed to stopping transient criminal aliens who exploit our immigration system to harm American businesses and communities,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Newark acting Field Office Director Ruben Perez said. “By working closely with our law enforcement partners, ICE is dismantling South American Theft Groups and ensuring those who break our laws face justice.”

SATG related crime emerged nationwide in 2023 as the border crisis escalated under former President Joe Biden. At the time, an estimated 10 million foreign nationals were reported illegally entering or attempting entry into the U.S. as crime escalated in metropolitan suburbs nationwide, including targeted break-ins by SATG.

SATG operations in the U.S. appear to be orchestrated primarily by Columbian and Chilean nationals who either illegally entered the U.S. or exploited a visa program, law enforcement officials nationwide found, The Center Square reported.

The SATG crime wave exploded as a record nearly 500,000 Columbian nationals were reported illegally entering the U.S. under the Biden administration, The Center Square reported. Chilean national illegal entries also increased because many Haitians who illegally entered the country had Chilean passports and identification because they were living and working there, The Center Square reported. Under the Biden administration, a record nearly 700,000 Haitians were reported illegally entering the U.S., The Center Square reported.

As illegal border crossers made their way throughout the U.S., law enforcement officials recognized a similar trend: illegal foreign nationals were dealing drugs, stealing cars, burglarizing and committing violent crimes. Officials from across the country testified before Congress about Chilean gang members committing violent crimes in residential neighborhoods only to learn they had been released into the country by the Biden administration, The Center Square reported.

Last year, Florida sheriffs identified SATG members targeting Asian Americans in six counties, The Center Square reported. By last December, the NFL issued a security alert to players after professional football players’ homes were being targeted and broken into throughout the Midwest, The Center Square reported.

Multi-agency operations in Texas are also targeting large-scale retail theft and burglaries allegedly committed by SATG members, one most recently in Houston, The Center Square reported.

As arrests continue to be made nationwide, SATG members are using signal jammers to block calls citizens make to local police during home invasions or bank robberies, DHS warned earlier this year. Signal jammer-related crimes were initially reported in Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, and Virginia, The Center Square reported.