Argentine Police Arrest Two Chilean Men in U.S. Athlete Burglaries

Argentine Federal Police arrested two Chilean citizens at the Retiro bus station in Buenos Aires on Monday. The men are suspected of belonging to a transnational group that targeted homes of athletes in the United States and Argentina. Police identified the detainees as Ignacio Zuniga Cartes and Bastian Jimenez Freraut. S. extradition requests.

The group is accused of burglarizing residences belonging to Kansas City Chiefs players Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis, and former tennis player Juan Martin del Potro.

A third man, Pablo Zuniga Cartes, was also arrested, though not in connection with the del Potro incident. According to the FBI, the suspects used publicly available information and social media to monitor athletes' movements. They employed devices that bypassed alarm systems, disabled wireless networks, and covered security cameras.

2025, seven Chilean citizens, including the men arrested in Argentina, were charged in federal court in Florida with conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines. The maximum penalty for that offense is 10 years in prison. Alexander Esteban Huaiquil Chavez, another defendant, pleaded guilty in Tennessee federal court in March and is scheduled for sentencing on June 11.

Three additional men charged with burglarizing Joe Burrow's Ohio home in December have a hearing set for July 8 in the Southern District of Ohio.