Robbed by “ghost” thieves

Several Canadian cities, including Montreal, are facing a wave of professional South American thieves who enter the country with false passports. “They’re like ghosts,” said one of their victims, who confided in The Press.

The tailing lasted a good thirty minutes, but the businessman, owner of a Montreal exchange office, never noticed the gray Kia Sportage which had been following him for 18 kilometers.

Following him, the three suspects of South American origin, in the vehicle rented with a false passport, knew perfectly well what they were doing. It only took them 13 seconds to force the back trunk of the businessman’s car and seize the loot, when the latter made a quick stop at a customer in West Island.

“That day, we had a substantial amount of money stolen, in the five figures. These guys are real pros. It’s as if they had military training,” says Eric, one of the co-owners of the exchange office victim of the theft, who asked that his identity be kept quiet for fear of being targeted again by a similar theft.

The contractor provided The Press several video sequences of the crime captured by surveillance cameras. We see the masked thieves, in broad daylight, circling around the car they followed from a currency exchange office. They each have their task: while one commits the theft, another watches the surroundings, while the driver prepares the escape, speeding backwards down a one-way street to better position himself.

Despite a thorough investigation by the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM), the thieves have still not been caught, says the businessman.

The police force refuses to comment on specific cases linked to ongoing investigations, but for detective sergeants Roberto Di Matteo and Anthony Cantelmi, there is little doubt that the scene described by the businessman is the work of South American Theft Groups, or SATG.

Since 2017, the two detectives have been particularly interested in these thieves of South American origin, who do not necessarily have any links between them, other than that they follow roughly the same modus operandi. They have arrested around 25 so far, mostly from Chile and Colombia, in complex investigations that required physical surveillance.

“They are patient and organized,” comments Detective Sergeant Cantelmi. Typically, these thieves enter Canada with a usurped or stolen Mexican passport that allows them to stay in the country without having to obtain a visa. They settle into an apartment found by a local accomplice or in an Airbnb. They rent luxury cars under a false identity, which they use to go incognito when they scout to rob prestigious houses in upscale neighborhoods.

“Their crime of choice is really break and enters,” explains Detective Sergeant Di Matteo.

Last July, a group of seven thieves linked to SATG were caught with a radio wave jammer, a tool rarely seen in burglaries in Montreal. Thieves use it to disrupt home WiFi networks, on which most modern surveillance systems depend. “It gives you an idea of ​​their level of sophistication,” says Mr. Di Matteo. “They know how to smash a window without making any noise,” he illustrates.

“They have knowledge of police work, they know how we conduct our investigations, how we do surveillance,” adds Mr. Cantelmi.

The SATGs also attack exchange offices, an “easy target” from which customers generally emerge with substantial sums of money. A “carefully planned” raid in a Cartierville exchange office allowed thieves to get their hands on $200,000, says the SPVM.

A common method is to slash a customer’s tire and present yourself as a good Samaritan by offering help. “While the victim is chatting with the person who is helping him, the bag full of money disappears, and the victim caught in the heat of the moment does not realize anything. »

Branches of Nour BDC exchange offices have been victims three times since 2017. “We have installed cameras in all our parking lots to control the risk,” explains Jamil ElSoud, president of the company.

The SPVM affirms that thieves carefully observe these businesses to find easy prey. “When customers leave with an amount of $1,000 or more, our clerks are required to warn them to put their envelope in their pockets and to be careful,” explains Mr. ElSoud.

Widespread phenomenon

Canada is just one of many SATG hunting grounds.

One of the Colombian thieves convicted in 2020 in Canada for burglaries following SPVM investigations, William David Corredor Fuentes, was already imprisoned in Thailand in 2012 for a series of similar thefts totaling 10 million baht ($380,000). CAN) committed in residences in the suburbs of Pattaya. The thief and two accomplices were caught when a package they were trying to send to Colombia was intercepted by Thai posts. Authorities there found jewelry and other valuables hidden in shoes and clothing, the Pattaya One news site reported at the time.

This crime on Thai soil in no way prevented Corredor Fuentes from illegally entering Canada seven years later, with a false Mexican passport. When the police arrested him in Repentigny in possession of several burglary tools, it took them three weeks to identify him, with two of his new accomplices, the Crown revealed during its release investigation. “It is obvious that if they were released, they would either commit other criminal offenses or they would flee Canada,” ruled Judge Christian M. Tremblay, refusing to release them.

“They arrive in Canada with a clean criminal record,” emphasizes Detective Sergeant Cantelmi, which allows them to go under the radar for a while.

“As soon as they feel the heat, they push into other provinces,” adds investigator Di Matteo. The SPVM worked with the York, Toronto and Peel police services to arrest them. “We also followed it to Vancouver,” adds Mr. Di Matteo.

“They are there to work,” he adds. Investigators say they have amassed evidence showing that their relatives in their country of origin transfer sums to them to finance their activities back home.

In response to this phenomenon, Canadian Border Services created a database on SATG. A government expert regularly comes to testify during court appearances to explain that these suspects belong to a form of criminal organization and that specific measures must be taken.

Investigations nevertheless remain difficult, “because they have to be caught in the act,” underlines Mr. Cantelmi.

Little advice to protect yourself: “Don’t leave your jewelry in the master bedroom. Hide them in Tupperware in the kitchen or in the children’s room. They won’t go searching there,” believes investigator Di Matteo.