Six people have been charged as part of a sweeping federal investigation that centered on crime tourism groups from South America who authorities allege stole luxury goods and individuals' financial information and then laundered millions of dollars in illicit funds, officials said Wednesday.
Prosecutors allege Juan Carlos Thola-Duran, 57, of Canyon Country directed members of crime tourism theft groups to travel to various parts of the U.S. to steal, including shoplifting goods from stores, burglarizing homes and businesses, and stealing individuals' credit and bank cards. The 46-count indictment filed this month charged six individuals with wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and structuring transactions to avoid federal financial reporting requirements.
"Crime tourism is a major problem, impacting not just Southern California, but our entire nation," U.S. Atty. Martin Estrada said in a statement. "These defendants facilitated and directed crime tourists who committed hundreds of robberies across the country. In essence, they acted as quarterbacks for a team of thieves."
Prosecutors said Thola-Duran operated Driver Power Rentals, a Van Nuys-based car rental business, with his live-in girlfriend, Ana Maria Arriagada, 41, and the couple provided vehicles for the groups to use during thefts.
The couple directed the crews to steal credit and bank cards and max them out by purchasing electronics, gift cards, designer purses and other high-end goods from stores such as Target, Best Buy and Home Depot, according to prosecutors. They would then have the illicit goods brought back to the rental car business or direct them to be mailed to others involved in the scheme, prosecutors said.
Miguel Angel Barajas, 57, of Northridge; John Carlo Thola, 33, of Canoga Park; and others picked up the parcels and delivered them to Thola-Duran, prosecutors allege.
Thola-Duran is accused of acting as a "fence" to buy the goods at a fraction of their retail value and pay the thieves a percentage of the items' value. Prosecutors say he then would sell the stolen goods to other buyers. Over the course of about six years, Thola-Duran made about $5.5 million from the scheme, according to prosecutors.
The suspects used the money to buy luxury goods such as real estate and horses, prosecutors said.
"These criminals were running a burglary operation with a sophistication that rivals Amazon, and instead of dispatching delivery drivers, they were dispatching trained thieves throughout Southern California to steal from what should be where we are safest — our homes," Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said.
The indictment also alleges that Thola-Duran, Arriagada and others obtained nearly $275,000 in fraudulent COVID-19 business relief loans.
The trend of Chilean crime groups visiting Southern California for thefts and robberies emerged about five years ago. The thieves, authorities say, arrive on easily obtainable tourism visas. The phenomenon, which police have called "burglary tourism," has spurred political outrage and prompted questions over visa tourism from the South American nation.
Investigators say such crews are behind hundreds of break-ins across Southern California, including in wealthy pockets of Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura and San Diego counties. The Los Angeles Police Department earlier this year formed a South American Theft Group task force to focus on so-called burglary tourism.
“The effects of crime tourism are being felt very acutely here in Southern California. We've been feeling the effects of home burglaries that have shot up over the past two years," Estrada said.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .
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