A group of ten thieves allegedly linked to the South American Theft Groups were arrested by the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM), during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, in possession of a safe and jewelry valued at 3 million dollars, stolen from a jewelry store in the Fairview Pointe-Claire shopping center.
The ten individuals – eight men and two women aged 19 to 38 – were arrested simultaneously in three vehicles shortly after the theft. Police found welding equipment and other tools that may have been used to break into a vault or safe at the stolen jewelry store, according to the report.
The SPVM says it also found a wave jammer on board one of the vehicles, a tool rarely used in Quebec during burglaries. Thieves use it to disrupt WiFi networks or radio waves on which some alarm systems depend.
“Various information collected by the investigation team suggests that the suspects are linked to the South American Theft Groups (SATG),” said the SPVM in a press release.
Last July, Montreal police found a radio jammer during the arrest of another group of thieves linked to the SATG phenomenon.
South American Theft Groups are criminal gangs originating from South America who enter a country with false passports or under a false identity. They are rampant all over the world and mainly target opulent residences, exchange offices and luxury goods businesses. They work in gangs of a few individuals, who often have family ties, but not necessarily links to organized crime.
Last December, The Press published a report revealing how three thieves linked to the SATG had followed a Montreal businessman for 18 kilometers as he left a currency exchange office to steal from him without his knowledge an envelope containing several thousand dollars. Surveillance footage shows that the thieves had carefully planned their attack by observing the premises for several days.
These thieves have “sophisticated methods”, but are rarely violent. “They have knowledge of police work, they know how we conduct our investigations, how we do surveillance,” explained detective sergeant Anthony Cantelmi, an SPVM investigator specializing in tracking down SATGs.
The SPVM gave few details about the ten suspects arrested Thursday. They were charged with breaking and entering, conspiracy and possession of burglary tools. They will remain detained until further notice.
Court documents filed at the Montreal courthouse on Friday indicate that their address is “unknown.”
Identifying these suspects is sometimes particularly difficult for the police. In 2020, it took SPVM investigators three weeks to identify a thief linked to the SATG who entered the country with a false Mexican passport. Their investigation revealed that the thief had already been imprisoned in Thailand in 2012 for a series of similar jewelry thefts committed in the suburbs of Pattaya.