3 men wanted in connection with burglaries of US professional athletes' homes arrested in Argentina
Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce were among those targeted.
Three purported members of a South American theft group that allegedly targeted the homes of professional athletes in the United States were arrested in Argentina, authorities said.
The three Chilean citizens are wanted in the U.S. on federal charges in connection with burglaries that targeted the homes of athletes including Kansas City Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
Two of the suspects -- Ignacio Zuniga Cartes and Bastian Jimenez Freraut -- are among five people arrested in connection with a robbery at the home of Argentine tennis player Juan Martin del Potro's that occurred earlier this month in Argentina, according to Argentinian authorities.
The arrest of the third suspect, Pablo Zuniga Cartes, was unrelated to the tennis player incident, according to Argentinian authorities.
The men were arrested in a joint operation between Argentine federal police and Chilean police. They are back in Chile awaiting possible extradition to the U.S., Chilean authorities said Monday.
The suspects are among seven defendants charged in a federal complaint last year with conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property in connection with the burglaries targeting professional athletes around the country, federal prosecutors said at the time.
According to the federal complaint, the defendants were allegedly members of a South American theft group that burglarized the homes of athletes in the NFL and NBA while they were away or playing games at the time. Prosecutors allege they stole valuables worth more than $2 million.
The complaint includes a photograph of the three suspects who were arrested in Argentina, alongside a fourth unidentified individual, posing with a safe and jewelry that authorities said was taken shortly after the November 2024 burglary at the home of Milwaukee Bucks player Bobby Portis.
The safe -- which contained several watches, chains, personal items, jewelry and cash -- was stolen, along with a designer suitcase and designer bags, authorities said. The total value of property stolen was nearly $1.5 million, according to the complaint.
"Also of note is that P. Zuniga Cartes is wearing a Kansas City Chiefs shirt in the photo," the FBI special agent stated in the complaint, noting that he believed it to be a reference to the October 2024 burglaries of the two Kansas City Chiefs players.
In addition to the burglaries at the homes of Mahomes, Kelce and Portis, the FBI linked the theft group to an October 2024 burglary of a Tampa Bay Buccaneers player while the team was playing the Baltimore Ravens in Tampa, according to the complaint. The thieves stole items worth $167,000, according to the complaint.
The theft group was also linked to the December 2024 burglary at the home of a Memphis Grizzlies player targeted in Tennessee while the team was playing Golden State in Memphis, according to the complaint. The burglars stole jewelry, watches and luxury bags valued at $1 million, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleged that the burglars had a "clear and consistent modus operandi" that began with identifying an ideal target based on the publicly available schedules and locations of professional athletes. They would enter through a broken window or by using a crowbar to pry open a sliding door, according to the complaint.
At least one burglary occurred in Hillsborough in the Middle District of Florida, where the complaint was filed early last year, prosecutors said. Members of the theft group rented vehicles in Florida that were "later found in the vicinity of burglaries committed nationwide of prominent athletes," the complaint stated.
ABC News' Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.