Chilean authorities introduced Tuesday that six useful watches stolen from Canadian actor Keanu Reeves had been handed over to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), months after recovering them in a police raid.
The FBI will prepare for the watches’ return to Reeves, together with an engraved Rolex value not less than US$9,500. The 60-year-old actor’s six watches are valued at a complete of US$125,000, in response to Marcelo Varas, a police officer from Chile’s theft investigation squad.
Chilean prosecutors informed reporters that Reeves had recognized the watches as these stolen from his Los Angeles dwelling throughout a string of high-profile burglaries in December 2023.
The announcement was made as Trump’s secretary of Homeland Safety, Kristi Noem, arrived within the South American nation for conferences with Chilean officers about transnational crime, amongst different points.
In keeping with authorities, the watches stolen from the John Wick actor’s Hollywood Hills dwelling almost two years in the past turned up in Santiago, Chile’s capital, when police raided properties and uncovered stolen vehicles, iPhones, luxurious watches and designer purses.
That operation coincided with one other Chilean investigation, coordinated with the FBI, right into a spate of burglaries by South America-based crime teams focusing on multi-million-dollar properties within the U.S., many belonging to celebrities {and professional} athletes, reminiscent of Kansas Metropolis Chiefs soccer participant Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes.
Get every day Nationwide information
Get the day’s prime information, political, financial, and present affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox as soon as a day.
In February, seven Chilean nationals had been charged with conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property over burglaries during which they stole valuables value over US$2 million, in response to the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace in Center District Florida.
In keeping with the grievance, the people had been members of a South American theft group that burglarized the properties {of professional} athletes round the USA.
The U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace stated the people focused high-profile athletes within the Nationwide Soccer League (NFL) and Nationwide Basketball Affiliation (NBA), once they had been away or enjoying in skilled video games on the instances of the burglaries.
Varas stated authorities had been nonetheless investigating any hyperlink between the theft of Reeves’ watches and the opposite high-profile burglaries.
In April, police in Chile introduced the arrest of 23 residents over the string of break-ins in the USA. The raid, codenamed “Operation Pennsylvania,” came about throughout dozens of properties in Santiago and led to the seizure of US$1.36 million value of products, in response to police.
“This phenomenon of worldwide thieves has regretfully existed in our nation for a few years, however it’s sadly been on the rise lately,” prosecutor Eduardo Baeza stated throughout a press convention in April.
Johnny Fica, head of the Investigative Police of Chile’s (PDI) cash and asset laundering division, stated lots of the detainees had no legal data in Chile however had been profession criminals overseas that laundered property in Chile.
Fica stated the investigation started final 12 months and was carried out with data from the FBI. They confirmed photos from the raid which featured drawers full of footwear, designer purses, luxurious watches and extra.
“What you see is a part of a lifetime of luxurious that they had right here in Chile. Quite a lot of them preferred to indicate off,” Fica stated, including that lots of the teams had been household or close-knit models.
“Their purpose was clear, they wished to benefit from the earnings of their crimes on this nation they usually didn’t skimp on spending as a result of they felt like that they had, till now, impunity,” Fica added.
— With recordsdata from The Related Press and Reuters
© 2025 World Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.