Chilean authorities introduced Tuesday that six useful 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 price no less than US$9,500. The 60-year-old actor’s six watches are valued at a complete of US$125,000, in response to Marcelo Varas, a police officer from Chile’s theft investigation squad.
Chilean prosecutors informed 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.
Based on 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 properties 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 properties within the U.S., many belonging to celebrities {and professional} athletes, equivalent to 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 through which they stole valuables price over US$2 million, in response to the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace in Center District Florida.
Based on the criticism, the people have been members of a South American theft group that burglarized the properties {of professional} athletes round the US.
The U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace stated 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 stated 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 US. The raid, codenamed “Operation Pennsylvania,” happened throughout dozens of properties in Santiago and led to the seizure of US$1.36 million price of products, in response to police.
“This phenomenon of worldwide thieves has regretfully existed in our nation for a few years, however it’s sadly been on the rise just lately,” prosecutor Eduardo Baeza stated throughout a press convention in April.
Johnny Fica, head of the Investigative Police of Chile’s (PDI) cash and asset laundering division, stated lots of the detainees had no prison information in Chile however have been profession criminals overseas that laundered belongings in Chile.
Fica stated the investigation started final yr and was carried out with info from the FBI. They confirmed pictures from the raid which featured drawers stuffed with footwear, designer purses, luxurious watches and extra.
“What you see is a part of a lifetime of luxurious they’d right here in Chile. Loads of them favored to point out off,” Fica stated, including that lots of the teams have been household or close-knit models.
“Their aim 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 they’d, till now, impunity,” Fica added.
— With information from The Related Press and Reuters
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