Law enforcement agencies in California say they have seen groups of thieves from South American traveling to the state with the sole purpose of burglarizing homes.
These crews get tourist visas by applying online then they travel to wealthy California neighborhoods, stake them out and steal when no one is home.
Cmdr. Erik Buschow with the Ventura Sheriff's Office tells ABC7 in Los Angles:
“this is crime tourism. They're coming here for the purpose of targeting neighborhoods. Specifically vehicles, homes. Not violent crimes, but they're going after the big bucks."
According to Ventura County sheriff's investigators, most of the "tourist burglary crews" are from Chile.
They say last year alone, they handled 100 cases involving crews from South America.