A brazen crew of South American bank robbers disguised themselves as construction workers and used blowtorches, cellphone jammers and other “sophisticated tactics” to make off at least $4 million in a string of wild West Coast robberies, federal authorities say. According to those who had exposed him.
The group of 11 thieves – most of whom are from Chile – targeted at least 29 banks and credit unions in California, Oregon and Washington between May and October. According to federal prosecutors,
The alleged ringleader, 24-year-old Alex Moyano Morales, is wanted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but there is no record of him being encountered by officers at the border — meaning he may Entered America as “strays” Or through the legal immigration program, according to federal law enforcement sources.
US Attorney Philip A. In a scheme fit for a Hollywood screenplay, the bank robbery crew allegedly broke into the wall of a pet store, broke bank safes with sledgehammers and rented them out on the black market, Talbert said Thursday. The cars that went were broken.
Prosecutors said they spent days searching banks and nearby businesses, used cellphone signal jammers to disable wireless security devices and rented a nearby Airbnb to carry out the robberies.
Prosecutors said that during some scouting missions, the bandits wore hard hats and yellow construction jackets as well as medical-style face masks.
In a robbery that took place on September 18, the crooks reportedly cut through the wall of a pet spa in Fresno, California and climbed into a Wells Fargo, then opened an ATM vault and made off with $247,000. According to prosecutors,
Before the break-in, one of the suspects was captured on surveillance footage distracting a store employee while an accomplice, wearing a hard hat, tested the strength of the wall, prosecutors said.
In another incident on September 28, thieves reportedly used blowtorches and saws to break into the Tri Counties Bank and its vault in Fall River Mills, California – but they were interrupted and fled, leaving behind their power tools.
Prosecutors said the crew committed similar bank robberies — or attempted robberies — in more than two dozen other cases, including in the Los Angeles area and parts of western Washington state.
The bandits were arrested last week, thanks in part to an Apple AirTag tracking device that was inadvertently left in a Chevrolet Suburban rented by Morales. The Los Angeles Times reported,
In September, a driver unconnected to the robberies was pulled over by police in a car they later discovered Morales had previously rented.
According to the outlet’s report, Morales had no idea that the car was equipped with a tracking device — which revealed that the vehicle’s location history was linked to robberies.
According to prosecutors, investigators found robbery equipment, disguises, fake identification documents and more than $100,000 in cash at several short-term rental properties in Oregon and Washington.
Other alleged crew members arrested in connection with the bank robberies include:
- 26 year old Maite Celis Silva of Chile
- Eric Osorio Olivarez, 20, of Chile
- Pablo Valdez Rodriguez, 36, of Chile
- Rosa Bastias Serra, 42, of Chile
- Camilo Sepulveda Guzman, 31, of Peru
- Basil DaCosta Frias, 34, of Venezuela
- Camilo Alarcon Alarcon, 23, of Chile
- Michelle Parada Munoz, 21, of Chile
- Alvaro Lagos Mieres, 44, of Chile
- Humberto Jimenez Moreno, 45, of Chile
(Tags to translate)US news(T)Bank robbery(T)Crime(T)Immigration(T)South America
