A multi-agency investigation has identified alleged members of a South American theft ring and potentially Mexican cartel affiliates operating in Houston area suburbs after the ring launched a multi-state operation under the Biden administration.

In 2023, as the border crisis escalated under former President Joe Biden, when at the time an estimated 10 million foreign nationals were reported illegally entering or attempting entry into the U.S., crime escalated in metropolitan suburbs nationwide, including targeted break-ins by South American Theft Groups (SATG). The SATG appears to have been orchestrated primarily by Colombian and Chilean nationals who either illegally entered the U.S. or exploited a visa program, law enforcement officials nationwide found, The Center Square reported.

The SATG crime wave exploded as a record nearly 500,000 Colombian nationals were reported illegally entering the U.S. under the Biden administration, The Center Square reported. Chilean national illegal entries also increased because many Haitians who illegally entered the country had Chilean passports and identification because they were living and working there, The Center Square has reported. Under the Biden administration, a record nearly 700,000 Haitians were reported illegally entering the U.S., The Center Square reported.

As illegal border-crossers made their way throughout the U.S., law enforcement officials recognized a similar trend: illegal foreign nationals were dealing drugs, stealing cars, burglarizing and committing violent crimes. Officials from across the country testified before Congress about Chilean gang members committing violent crimes in residential neighborhoods only to learn they had been released into the country by the Biden administration, The Center Square reported.

Last year, Florida sheriffs identified SATG members targeting Asian Americans in six counties, The Center Square reported. By last December, the NFL issued a security alert to players after professional football players’ homes were being targeted and broken into throughout the Midwest, The Center Square reported.

At the same time, multi-agency operations in Texas were closing in on large-scale retail theft and burglaries allegedly committed by SATG members.

Last November and in January of this year, U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations agents working with local authorities executed search warrants in Laredo to recover $2 million in stolen merchandise. Members of the theft group allegedly shipped five boxes of roughly $200,000 worth of stolen merchandise from Minnesota to Laredo, according to a search warrant recently executed in Katy, Texas.

Later, investigators found that two men involved in a Pearland, Texas, Home Depot theft were also connected to a Katy Mills Mall theft, according to recently released court records.

Pearland and Katy are large residential suburbs located roughly 25 minutes from Houston in opposite directions.

Last month, law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at a short-term rental in Katy as part of an investigation into "large-scale thefts" at the Katy Mills Mall. The thefts are allegedly connected to a nationwide theft ring with ties to a “South American Cartel Organization,” and or Mexican cartel affiliates, according to court documents, ABC 13 Houston News first reported.

As a result of the Katy search, officers seized three bags of what appeared to be $5,000 worth of stolen clothing, identification for two men stating they are Mexican citizens, and three airline tickets, among other items.

According to court records, two men who targeted a Home Depot in Pearland were allegedly involved in the Katy theft ring; at least one involved in the Katy theft ring was connected to the Laredo theft ring. The investigation is ongoing.

Members of the theft ring traveled “from major cities to major cities and rent Airbnb homes and typically stay for approximately a week before moving on to another city," according to the search warrant. "Previous search warrants at Airbnbs around the nation resulted in the recovery of hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen retail merchandise."

At least 98 members of the SATG have been identified who are responsible for committing more than $100 million worth of theft nationwide, according to the search warrant.

As the SATG crime threat grew under the Biden administration, the FBI warned in 2023 that SATG “represent an enormous threat … in our country,” The Center Square reported.