“These homes are targets for burglaries due to the perception that they may contain high-end items such as designer handbags, jewelry, watches and cash,” the report says.
The report also claims that these “robber groups” allegedly attacked the homes of nine professional athletes between September and November. That number includes the residences of Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, who were allegedly stolen early in NFL season. Additionally, Bengals star Joe Burrow was alleged victim of a similar crime at the beginning of December.
The FBI does not refer to any athletes by name in the report, but Timberwolves guard Mike Conley and Bucks forward Bobby Portis reportedly had their homes burglarized during the aforementioned period.
The FBI says organized thief groups in South America conduct surveillance in advance to prepare for such thefts and collect public information and social media data to identify the daily patterns of potential targets. These groups often know where valuable items are kept in homes.
“Organized theft groups bypass alarm systems, use Wi-Fi jammers to block Wi-Fi connections and disable devices, cover security cameras, and obfuscate their identities,” the FBI report says.
Both the NFL and the NBA issued security alerts to its players in Novemberurging players to take extra precautions when away from home.
