South American bank heist crew used blowtorches, disguises to snatch $4M: feds

November 1, 2024

A brazen crew of South American bank bandits disguised themselves as construction workers and used blowtorches, cellphone jammers and other “sophisticated tactics” to snatch at least $4 million in a string of wild West Coast heists, according to federal authorities who busted them.

The group of 11 thieves — most of whom hail from Chile — hit at least 29 banks and credit unions in California, Oregon and Washington between May and October, according to federal prosecutors.

The alleged ringleader, Alex Moyano Morales, 24, is wanted by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement but there are no records of officials encountering him at the border — meaning he could have slipped into the US as a “gotaway” or through a legal immigration program, according to federal law enforcement sources.

In a scheme fit for a Hollywood screenplay, the bank heist crew allegedly sawed through the wall of a pet shop, smashed into bank vaults with sledgehammers and rented getaway cars on the black market, US Attorney Phillip A. Talbert said Thursday.

alleged theives — The bandits used blowtorches and sledgehammers to break into the banks. U.S. Attorneyâs Office

They spent days scouting the banks and nearby businesses, used cellphone signal jammers to disable wireless security devices and rented Airbnbs nearby to pull off the heists, prosecutors said.

During some of the scouting missions, the bandits wore medical-style face masks along with hard hats and yellow construction vests, prosecutors said.

In a heist on Sept. 18, the crooks allegedly cut through the wall of a pet spa in Fresno, Calif., and climbed into a Wells Fargo before busting open an ATM vault and swiping $247,000, according to prosecutors.

Before the break-in, one of the suspects was captured in surveillance footage distracting a shop employee while an accomplice in a hard hat tested the durability of a wall, prosecutors said.

In another incident on Sept. 28, the thieves allegedly used blowtorches and saws to bust into Tri Counties Bank and its vaults in Fall River Mills, Calif. — but were interrupted and fled, leaving behind their power tools.

The crew pulled similar bank robberies — or attempted robberies — in more than two dozen other cases, including in the Los Angeles area and parts of western Washington state, prosecutors said.

The bandits were arrested last week thanks in part to an Apple AirTag tracking device that was unwittingly left in a Chevrolet Suburban rented by Morales, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In September, a driver unrelated to the robberies was pulled over in the car by police, who later learned Morales had previously rented it.

Morales had no clue the car was equipped with the tracking device — which revealed that the vehicle’s location history was linked to the robberies, the outlet reported.

Investigators found robbery tools, disguises, fake identification documents and more than $100,000 in cash at several short-term rental properties in Oregon and Washington, according to prosecutors.

Other alleged crew members arrested in connection to the bank robberies include: