Seven charged over burglary spree targeting pro athletes in US

Seven men have been charged in connection with a spree of burglaries targeting professional athletes across the US.

Goods worth more than $2m (£1.58m) were stolen from the homes of NBA and NFL players in a series of break-ins which began in October 2024.

Kansas City Chiefs stars Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes were among those targeted as they were competing in games late last year, as were players from the Milwaukee Bucks and Cincinnati Bengals.

According to a federal complaint unsealed on Tuesday, all seven men charged over the burglaries are Chilean nationals. It alleges they are members of a South American theft group that targeted high-profile athletes.

The complaint names the men as Pablo Zuniga Cartes, Ignacio Zuniga Cartes, Bastian Jimenez Freraut, Jordan Quiroga Sanchez, Bastian Orellano Morales, Alexander Huiaguil Chavez, and Sergio Ortega Cabello.

The group, who are aged between 23 and 38, all face a maximum of 10 years in jail if convicted over the burglaries.

It is not yet clear if they have legal representation. Four of the defendants - Mr Cabello, Mr Chavez, Mr Morales, and Mr Sanchez - pleaded not guilty to initial charges in Ohio last month.

While the federal complaint does not name the victims, it said the Kansas City homes of two Chiefs players were burgled in October.

Kelce's home was robbed on 7 October as he was starting a game against the New Orleans Saints. Officials said $20,000 (£15,900) in cash was stolen from his $6m home.

And Mahomes's residence was burgled on 5 October, police said at the time.

The complaint also alleges the seven men were involved in the November burglary of a home belonging to a Milwaukee Bucks basketball player. The date of this incident is when forward Bobby Portis reported a burglary.

A safe containing watches, chains, jewellery, and cash was stolen along with a designer suitcase and designer bags. In total, the items stolen were worth more than $1.5m.

The athletes make for easy targets in part because they have valuable belongings and public schedules, security experts told the BBC last year.

"In any professional football event, for instance, there's 106 players, 53 on each team, that are not going to be home, not including coaches. And some of those players may have very lucrative contracts and live in nice places," said former FBI agent Jeff Lanza.

The NFL has been warning players about the crimes, sending a memo last year which said "organised and skilled groups" appeared to be targeting them. The memo said the groups were tracking the players' whereabouts on social media and through public records.

The issue is an international one. In the UK, a number of top Premier League footballers have also been targeted with burglaries in recent years.