Three men sentenced to prison in 'burglary tourism' case

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced Monday that three defendants who burglarized a Carlsbad home in January have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from four to six years.

Christian Tapia, 39, and Romai Aranedapogge, 36, were both sentenced to six years in prison while Joe Acevedo, 20, was sentenced to four years, according to the prosecutor's office.

The group is part of a crew of foreign travelers using the visa waiver program to enter the country and commit “burglary tourism,” the prevalence of which has exploded across the country.

“These cases are difficult to solve because they are very sophisticated networks that commit what I call tourist burglaries,” Stephan said. “They come with tourist visas from Chile, from Italy and it is a quick visa that they apply for online.”

Stephan says 100 homes throughout the county have been burglarized by this criminal network and 11 people have been prosecuted in the county so far for their connection. Investigators say the group is primarily comprised of Chilean men between the ages of 18 and 55.

“I have never seen anything like this in my career, this level of sophistication,” Stephan said.

Prosecutors say those involved in the robberies are traveling to the United States through the ESTA visa waiver program. The program allows Chileans to fill out an online questionnaire without a foreign background check and receive a 90-day tourist visa. Most of the defendants involved in U.S. robbery cases also have criminal records in Chile.

Once in the country, the suspects obtain fake foreign driver's licenses and identification cards and use these fake identities to rent the vehicles. The members of the heist team all have what is considered a business phone, which is most often a prepaid cell phone. The suspects change their phones and/or SIM cards every 30 days or sooner.

Residential burglaries took place under similar conditions. The homes were located in affluent neighborhoods, where the homes overlooked open space, a golf course, a hiking trail, or an equestrian trail. In many homes, entry was through a second-story balcony.

“This case is part of a crime wave that has ravaged our country, where organized crime networks, often with criminal records in their own countries, are granted visas to the United States that they use to commit tourist burglaries,” Stephan said. “I am proud of the Carlsbad Police Department’s investigation and our prosecution team for their continued work to dismantle these roaming burglary networks that are undermining the safety of residential neighborhoods.”

On June 4, all three defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary, residential burglary, identity theft and resisting arrest.

Stephan added that more needs to be done at the federal level to crack down and strengthen a visa system she calls “broken.”