Published at 12:48 am. Updated at 05:00.
The pursuit lasted a good thirty minutes, but the businessman, owner of an exchange office in Montreal, never noticed the gray Kia Sportage that had pursued him for 18 kilometers.
The three suspects of South American origin who followed him and were in the vehicle rented with a false passport knew exactly what they were doing. It took them just 13 seconds to break through the back boot of the businessman's car and seize the loot as he made a quick stop at a customer's home in West Island.
“On that day a significant amount of money, running into five figures, was stolen from us. These guys are real professionals. It's like they had military training,” says Eric, one of the co-owners of the exchange office, which was a victim of the theft and asked that his identity be kept secret for fear of becoming a victim of a similar theft again.
The entrepreneur provided La Presse with several video sequences of the crime recorded by surveillance cameras. We see the masked thieves circling the car in broad daylight, which they were stalking from an exchange office. They all have their job: While one commits the theft, another observes the surroundings, while the driver prepares to escape and races backwards through a one-way street in order to be able to position himself better.
Despite a thorough investigation by the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM), the thieves have still not been caught, says the businessman.
Police refuse to comment on specific cases related to ongoing investigations, but detectives Roberto Di Matteo and Anthony Cantelmi have little doubt that the scene described by the businessman is the work of the South American Theft Groups (SATG). .
Since 2017, the two investigators have been particularly interested in these thieves of South American origin, between whom there is not necessarily a connection, except that they follow roughly the same approach. So far they have arrested around 25 people, mostly from Chile and Colombia, as part of complex investigations that required physical surveillance.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Detective Sergeants Anthony Cantelmi and Roberto Di Matteo
“They are patient and organized,” she comments Detective Sergeant Cantelmi. Typically, these thieves enter Canada with a purloined or stolen Mexican passport, which allows them to remain in the country without having to apply for a visa. They settle in an apartment found by a local accomplice or in an Airbnb. They rent luxury cars under a false identity that they use to go incognito and carry out robberies in upscale neighborhoods.
“Their crime of choice is breaking and entering,” explains Detective Sergeant Di Matteo.
They will neither fight nor commit fraud. They are very disciplined. They go straight to the master bedroom to steal the luxury items. They're aiming for the safe.
Roberto Di Matteo, criminal police officer
Last July, a group of seven thieves linked to SATG were caught with a radio wave jammer, a tool rarely found in burglaries in Montreal. Thieves use it to disrupt home Wi-Fi networks, which most modern surveillance systems rely on. “It gives you an idea of their level of sophistication,” says Mr. Di Matteo. “They know how to break a window without making noise,” he explains.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Women are also among the thieves in South American theft groups. Sometimes they are used to build a relationship of trust with the victims. The two women in the photo were involved in a rather sophisticated burglary in which they performed several maneuvers to avoid detection by an alarm system.
“They know police work, they know how we conduct our investigations, how we conduct surveillance,” Mr. Cantelmi added.
The SATGs also attack exchange offices, an “easy target” from which customers typically emerge with significant amounts of money. A “carefully planned” raid on a currency exchange in Cartierville allowed thieves to get their hands on $200,000, the SPVM said.
A common method is to slash a customer's tire and portray yourself as a good Samaritan by offering help. “While the victim is chatting with the person helping him, the bag full of money disappears and the victim notices nothing in the heat of the moment. »
Since 2017, branches of the Nour BDC exchange offices have been affected three times. “We have installed cameras in all our parking lots to control the risk,” explains Jamil ElSoud, president of the company.
The SPVM confirms that thieves are closely monitoring these stores to find easy prey. “When customers leave with an amount of $1,000 or more, our employees have to warn them to put their envelope in their pocket and be careful,” explains Mr. ElSoud.
Widespread phenomenon
Canada is just one of many SATG hunting areas.
One of the Colombian thieves convicted of burglaries in Canada in 2020 following SPVM investigations, William David Corredor Fuentes, was previously jailed in Thailand in 2012 for a series of similar thefts totaling 10 million baht ($380,000) that occurred in residential buildings were committed in suburbs of Pattaya. The thief and two accomplices were caught when a package they were trying to send to Colombia was intercepted by Thai post offices. Authorities there found jewelry and other valuables hidden in shoes and clothing, news site Pattaya One reported at the time.
This crime on Thai soil in no way prevented Corredor Fuentes from illegally entering Canada seven years later using a false Mexican passport. When police arrested him in Repentigny for possessing several burglary tools, it took three weeks to identify him and two of his new accomplices, the Crown revealed in its release inquiry. “It is obvious that if released they would either commit other crimes or flee Canada,” Judge Christian M. Tremblay ruled, denying release.
“They arrive in Canada with no criminal record,” points out Detective Sergeant Cantelmi, which allows them to stay under the radar for a while.
They are not on record, we do not know their faces or their DNA.
Anthony Cantelmi, detective sergeant
“As soon as they feel the heat, they move to other provinces,” adds investigator Di Matteo. The SPVM worked with York, Toronto and Peel police services to arrest her. “We also followed him to Vancouver,” adds Mr. Di Matteo.
“They are there to work,” he adds. Investigators say they have gathered evidence that their relatives in their country of origin transferred them funds to finance their activities back home.
In response to this phenomenon, the Canadian Border Services created a database on SATG. A government expert regularly appears at court hearings to explain that the suspects belong to a criminal organization and that concrete action must be taken.
Nevertheless, investigations remain difficult “because they have to be caught in the act,” emphasizes Cantelmi.
A little advice for protection: “Don’t leave your jewelry in the master bedroom.” Hide them in Tupperware in the kitchen or children’s room. “They won’t search there,” believes investigator Di Matteo.