Chile authorities hand luxury watches stolen from actor Keanu Reeves over to the FBI
Reeves was able to identify the stolen watches, including a Rolex, taken from his house in Los Angeles during a string of high-profile burglaries in December 2023.
The items turned up in Santiago when police raided homes and uncovered stolen cars, phones, luxury watches and designer hand bags.
The operation was related to an earlier investigation by Chilean authorities and the FBI into a spate of burglaries, targeting the multi-million-dollar homes of celebrities and professional athletes.
Victims of these burglaries included NFL players Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes.
The announcement was made as the Trump administration's secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem, arrived in the South American country for meetings with Chilean officials about transnational crime, among other issues.
Ms Noem was also the victim of a robbery attributed to a Chilean national residing illegally in the United States, when her bag was stolen last April at a Washington restaurant.
Reeves's six watches are valued at a total of $US125,000 ($191,000).
In April, police in Chile announced the arrest of 23 people over the string of break-ins.
Aided by the FBI, authorities carried out raids across Santiago codenamed Operation Pennsylvania, which led to the seizure of 1.3 billion pesos ($2,076,617) worth of goods.
"This phenomenon of international thieves has regretfully existed in our country for many years, but it's unfortunately been on the rise recently," prosecutor Eduardo Baeza said during a press conference.
Seven suspected members of the Chilean theft ring were charged in the US in February.
Federal prosecutors in Florida filed a criminal complaint against the Chilean nationals ranging in age from 22 to 38.
The highly organised ring were using temporary phones to avoid detection, the complaint said.
Investigators were able to track them down using phone signals and capturing data.
Links between the theft of Reeves's watches and the other high-profile burglaries are still being investigated.
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