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Argentine police arrested two Chilean men accused of being part of a criminal group linked to a string of burglaries targeting NFL and NBA players, including Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Travis Kelce, the Argentine Federal Police announced Tuesday.
The men were arrested as part of a joint operation with Chilean authorities and are in custody awaiting extradition proceedings requested by the United States.
The arrests come after federal prosecutors charged seven Chilean men in February 2025 with conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, linking the men to burglaries targeting the homes of high-profile players, often while the athletes were traveling. Argentine authorities did not name the men arrested this week.
The Athletic has reached out to Argentine authorities and the U.S. Department of Justice for comment.
The homes of Mahomes and Kelce were both burglarized in early October 2024 while the team was playing in New Orleans. Less than a month later, Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis said his home was burglarized the night he was playing a home game. Portis included a video in a social media post showing two people trying to enter his doorway.
“You put all you can into the game, and then you come and, just, all your belongings are gone, things that you worked hard for,” Portis told reporters at the time.
Burrow’s home in Anderson Township, Ohio, was targeted while he and the Cincinnati Bengals played against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in December 2024.
The federal complaint alleges the group stole valuables worth more than $2 million, including watches and jewelry. The group used false identification, along with rental cars and burner phones, to orchestrate the thefts.
In a statement Tuesday, Argentinian police alleged that those arrested were also linked to the burglary of a home belonging to Argentinian tennis player Juan Martín del Potro.
In 2024,the NFL and NBA sent security warnings to teams about the threat of burglaries after the break-ins at the homes of Kelce and Mahomes.
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