Crime Tourism: Four Chilean Nationals Accused of Violently Robbing Michigan Jewelry Stores

Four Chilean nationals are accused of carrying out violent smash-and-grab attacks on jewelry stores in Oakland County, Michigan, just as the local sheriff warned that illegal aliens are entering the United States solely to burglarize Americans.

Hernan Parraquez-Mondaca, Michael Aguilar-Mondaca, Sandrino Rojas-Palma, and Nicholas Caceres-Hernandez, all from Chile, have been charged with felony assault and armed robbery after allegedly robbing MJ Diamonds and the jewelry department inside Macy’s in August.

Although the four Chileans did not use firearms, according to local police, they wore masks, sprayed employees with pepper spray, and used hammers to smash glass cases to steal jewelry.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has filed detainers on all four Chilean nationals although how they arrived in the United States, whether through the southern border or via temporary visas, remains unclear.

All four remain in the Oakland County Jail without bail.

The charges come just as Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard warned that illegal aliens from the southern border are burglarizing members of American communities at an increasing rate, a scheme often referred to as “crime tourism.”

“These are transnational gangs that are involved in this that come from South America, looking to do burglaries and violate our communities, not just in Oakland County but across America,” Bouchard said, as Breitbart News reported.

The gangs of illegal aliens, Bouchard said, “are going after jewelry, high-end purses and watches, currency and safes” so they can “sell these things for 20 to 30 cents on the dollar to fences, who then re-sell this in a variety of ways.”

Crime tourism is not isolated to Oakland County but rather spans across the U.S. as lax enforcement of federal immigration law has helped criminals evade detection.

Just this year, two illegal aliens in Gulf Shores, Alabama, were arrested for allegedly burglarizing a jewelry store. Both men are linked to a theft ring out of South America.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.