Seven members of a South American crime gang have been charged for a string of burglaries that affected a slew of sports stars like Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes – and new reporting has revealed the mistakes they made that led to them being caught.
According to an FBI document obtained by ESPN, the accused thieves took photos with stolen items and posted them to an iCloud site for others to see.
Specifically, the FBI obtained photos that show three of the alleged burglars, along with an unidentified fourth man, displaying watches believed to be from the home of Milwaukee Bucks player Bobby Portis Jr.
The FBI was reportedly able to access the iCloud account with a search warrant, and ESPN said the existence of the selfies is ‘largely’ the reason they are in federal custody.
Additionally, some of the suspects also raised eyebrows when they were pulled over in January, after allegedly robbing the home of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
When asked by a police officer where they were headed, the men – who did not speak English and were in a rental car – responded ‘Orlando.’
However, the officer informed them that they were going in the wrong direction. A passenger in the back then said they were going to New York, before reverting his answer back to Florida.
The men were arrested after officers searched the car and found a crowbar and ‘window punches,’ while video of the stop also shows the officer pulling what look to be Burrow’s items – such as an LSU T-shirt – from the trunk.
FBI officials later tracked the license plate of the rental car and determined that it had been in Cincinnati, while also using cell tower data to determine that at least one of the defendants had been in the rental car.
In addition to Kelce, Burrow and Mahomes, Luka Doncic and Olivier Giroud have also been targeted.
The valuables stolen by the seven men are worth an estimated $3million.
In a photograph released by the Department of Justice , three of the defendants – Pablo Zuniga Cartes, 24, Ignacio Zuniga Cartes, 20, and Bastian Jimenez Freraut, 27, all of Chile – can be seen posing with a safe and jewelry that authorities say was taken shortly after the burglary Portis Jr.
The safe was said to have contained several watches, chains, cash and other personal items, totaling nearly $1.5million.
The other men charged with the burglaries are Jordan Quiroga Sanchez, 22, Bastian Orellano Morales, 23, Alexander Huiaguil Chavez, 24, and Sergio Ortega Cabello, 38, and if found guilty the men each face up to 10 years in prison.
In the complaint, released to the public on Tuesday, an FBI special agent stated: ‘Also of note is that P. Zuniga Cartes is wearing a Kansas City Chiefs shirt in the photo.’
He said that he believes it is in reference to the October 2024 burglaries of Kelce and Mahomes, which made headlines across America.
The FBI has also linked the seven men to the burglary of an unnamed Tampa Bay Buccaneers player while the team played against the Baltimore Ravens, in which the thieves are alleged to have stolen $167,000 worth of of luxury goods.
Three of the defendants also face charges in Ohio in connection with the December 2024 burglary targeting Bengals quarterback Burrow.
In the complaint, it is alleged that the burglars had ‘a clear and consistent modus operandi’ that began with them identifying from the sports star’s schedule when they would be away from the property.
