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Seven charged with 46 counts of international “criminal tourism”

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Seven people are accused of being part of an intercontinental “crime tourism” ring that, according to the Justice Department, targeted wealthy towns across the country to bring more than $5 million worth of stolen goods to South America.

Federal prosecutors describe the operation as a kind of concierge service for criminals, with gangs of thieves from South America coming to the Los Angeles area and being given cars and directions to the country's most upscale neighborhoods, which the gang's organizers believed were prime for burglaries, shoplifting and fraud.

“Essentially, they acted as quarterbacks for a team of thieves,” said Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. “Crime tourism is a major problem that affects not only Southern California, but our entire country.”

After receiving cars and tips, the thieves fanned out to other states and began what the U.S. Department of Justice calls “theft sprees.” They are believed to have committed hundreds of robberies across the country, Estrada said.

Juan Carlos Thola-Duran, Ana Maria Arriagada, John Carlo Thola, Patricia Enderton, Miguel Angel Barajas and Federico Jorge Triebel IV were indicted by a grand jury in June on charges they committed large-scale burglary, theft and other crimes across the country from January 2018 to approximately July 2024, the Justice Department said in a statement Wednesday. The department alleges they moved the illegal property and profits to South American countries.

According to the indictment unsealed Wednesday, Thola-Duran directed other people to travel to the U.S. and steal from various stores, rob homes and businesses, and steal people's credit and debit cards. He and Arriagada worked with other co-conspirators to arrange transportation for the crime through their company, Driver Power Rentals, the Justice Department said.

The agency has charged the seven with 46 counts ranging from wire fraud to money laundering. If convicted, the group faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and money laundering, up to 10 years for structuring and up to five years for conspiracy to transport stolen goods.

Defendants used car rental to carry out their fraud

According to the indictment, Thola-Duran and Arriagada instructed their accomplices to “rent” their vehicles by falsifying the documents to protect the conspirators' identities and to make the rental company appear legitimate.

Prosecutors allege they stole from people in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Florida, Kansas and many other states. According to court documents, undercover agents from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies helped uncover the plot. The documents say, among other things, that the defendants coordinated the plot over WhatsApp, an instant messaging platform, using coded language.

“These criminals conducted a burglary operation with a sophistication that rivals that of Amazon, and instead of sending out delivery drivers, they sent trained thieves across Southern California to steal where we should be safest – our homes,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.

After stealing their victims' credit and debit cards, the group maxed them out at stores like Target, Best Buy and Home Depot, purchasing electronics, gift cards and high-end luxury goods before the cards were frozen or blocked.

“For gift cards purchased with stolen credit or debit cards, the percentage of payment to Defendant Thola would depend on how well he and the co-conspirators understood the nature of the gift card being purchased, the co-conspirator's prior relationship with Defendant Thola, and how quickly the gift card would be frozen or canceled due to fraud detection,” the indictment states.

Thola-Duran allegedly acted as a “fence” to purchase stolen or fraudulently obtained goods, paying co-conspirators a percentage of the goods' value. Thola-Duran allegedly sold the goods for approximately $5.5 million over the years.

Some of the proceeds from the sales were used to purchase real estate and horses, prosecutors said. The ring used structured withdrawals to prevent banks from reporting transactions over $10,000.

Prosecutors said the group sent the stolen items via FedEx to various countries, including Colombia, or placed them in luggage on flights out of Los Angeles International Airport. Funds from the conspiracy were also transferred to people in Chile, prosecutors said.

Among other charges, prosecutors accused the defendants of defrauding the Paycheck Protection and Economic Injury Disaster programs, which have been plagued by fraud since their inception.

“Today we have taken out a non-traditional facilitator of organized crime and now have a plan for future investigations,” said Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. “We hope these arrests will deter future businesses from conducting similar operations, thereby reducing thefts and burglaries in our communities.”

Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter,@KrystalRNurse.

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