They are Colombian, Chilean, Mexican, Peruvian or Venezuelan and are specifically aimed at wealthy families. What do they have in common? With a Mexican passport you can easily enter Canada. And false identities.
In this way, an international criminal network called the South American Theft Groups (SATG) has been operating discreetly in Quebec for several years.
They tried to break into one of my houses. Luckily, the police were chasing these criminals and as soon as they arrived at my house, they caught them in my garden, says the daughter of one of Quebec’s biggest fortunes, who prefers not to reveal her identity.
The latter, who lives in a dissolved city west of Montreal, considers herself lucky. Several of his acquaintances have recently been victims of serious theft. They were looking for valuable things, clothes, jewelry, handbags, she says.
Fake identities created in Mexico
This criminal network has been pursued by the FBI and various police organizations around the world for several years.
SATGs “travel and carry out organized thefts.” They also pose a “threat to public safety,” according to a briefing document from the Canada Border Services Agency.
According to our information, members of this group began operating in Canada, and particularly in the West Island, following the lifting of visa requirements for Mexican nationals, which came into effect at the end of 2016.
This measure directly made it easier for these South American thieves to enter the country armed with false identification documents.
These people often have a criminal record in the USA. They should be inadmissible to Canada. The only way to get there is with a Mexican passport, which is easy to obtain, said a police source familiar with the matter who is not authorized to speak publicly.
They use a Mexican passport to come to Canada and commit crimes. These are people who cause great harm to the community and cost Canada.
As Enquête revealed, criminal groups have actually specialized in producing forged documents.
One of these traffickers we met in Mexico confirmed to us that he produces passports for people from several Latin American countries who want to enter Canada illegally.
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SPVM investigators Di Matteo and Cantelmi have been investigating these criminal networks for several years.
Photo: Radio-Canada
Canada, an easy target for these thieves
According to Detective Sergeant Roberto Di Matteo, co-head of a special investigation unit at the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), Canada would have become an easy target for these criminals, who are currently very active in Quebec.
This was founded in 2017 to fight against SATG, which gradually began to spread in the country.
They mainly target jewelry, money and luxury bags. They have fences here and then the money and bags are sent to their country where there is a market where these goods can be resold.
“It is surprising when we see the scale of what they have implemented,” adds his colleague Anthony Cantelmi. We are talking about organized crime in all its facets, from start to finish. These are small cells that can commit a lot of crimes. This makes them excellent thieves.
From entry into the country to reactions to customs officers at the airport, accommodation, travel and even the driver’s license: everything is planned in advance with a very precise “modus operandi”, explains this investigator.
“They are very enlightened, educated people. They are not amateurs,” continues Anthony Cantelmi, emphasizing that these criminals have even developed “counter-shadowing techniques.”
They come to the country with the sole aim of stealing people, explains Roberto Di Matteo. No physical force is used and these networks can count on guards to monitor the target shelters before and during their operations.
These are not people on the street corner impulsively deciding to steal. They are very organized people. This is the first time we have seen such a level of organization for this type of crime.
After a series of burglaries in the west and north of the metropolis at the beginning of the year, several arrests were made last June. Nearly $200,000 worth of jewelry was seized from the suspects’ vehicle and home.
In other cases, thefts totaling more than $1 million were committed.
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As we can see on this surveillance camera, these thieves also use garden furniture to climb up the stairs in apartments.
Photo: Courtesy / SPVM
Ghosts with multiple identities
Despite the SPVM’s interventions, this criminal network is not being weakened. This is due to the current loopholes at the Canadian border, which are widely exploited by the SATG.
They are extremely mobile people. As soon as they feel that the police are after them, they will change country and city. You will travel to Toronto, Western Canada or elsewhere. This complicates our task, admits Anthony Cantelmi, who compares these criminals to ghosts who can become invisible.
Despite being discovered, arrested and deported, these criminals manage to evade inspections by Canadian customs officials.
A Colombian thief, Ricardo Alfonso Mora Parada, used this procedure several times between 2018 and 2020, according to court documents filed with the Quebec court and obtained by Enquête.
Charged and deported, he returned to Canada through Toronto and Montreal airports on various Mexican passports, while at the same time there were several arrest warrants against him in the United States.
Matching his fingerprints to an American database subsequently revealed the existence of 15 different known identities under 10 different dates of birth, according to a filing with the Quebec court.
According to our knowledge, other court documents are full of similar facts.
The last time we saw a lull [de vols de ce réseau]It was during the pandemic when the borders were closed. This is good evidence that this is their way of returning to Canada, says Anthony Cantelmi.
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In June, the SPVM arrested four people for stealing luxury watches and jewelry.
Photo: Courtesy / SPVM
According to the CBSA, investigations are ongoing
During an interview with Enquête, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) remained stingy with comments.
I don’t want to go into detail about it. “We have an investigation and I have to protect the integrity of the investigation,” says the federal organization’s vice president, Aaron McCrorie.
However, a spokesman for the federal agency confirmed the activities of these criminals on Canadian soil via email.
The CBSA is aware of the presence of international organized crime groups in Canada and always works to prevent and disrupt their activities.
“We take these threats very seriously,” says Aaron McCrorie. Our defense measures are very effective and we are very proud of our results.
However, local opinions seem to differ. Without blaming anyone, SPVM investigators claim that these criminals are definitely present on the streets of Montreal.
The customs officials, says Anthony Cantelmi, are doing their best. But fake passports are so well made these days that they are extremely difficult to detect.
In collaboration with Daniel Tremblay and Martin Movilla