Houston police have arrested 20 people in connection with a South American burglary ring and recovered $4 million in stolen property, according to investigators.<\/p>\n
The ring is believed to be responsible for more than 60 home break-ins across the Houston area, including seven in West University Place.<\/p>\n
Eyewitness News has learned HPD’s Westside Crime Suppression Team took one of the “major players” into custody last month.<\/p>\n
Chilean national Patricio Munoz and his wife, Tania Barra, were arrested Jan. 28.<\/p>\n
Investigators said the couple was funding and directing many of the break-ins. Munoz was previously charged and sentenced in Los Angeles for the 2022 break-in of then-Congresswoman Karen Bass’ home.<\/p>\n
The FBI has linked the same Chilean burglary ring to break-ins at the homes of professional athletes in Ohio, Wisconsin, and Kansas.<\/p>\n
In Houston, Munoz allegedly was selling jamming devices to a separate Colombian burglary ring.<\/p>\n
The devices, which are illegal under federal law, can interfere with home security systems and other wireless communications.<\/p>\n
West University Place police said they found a jamming device on Chilean burglary suspect Ignacio Castillo Contreras during a break-in last year.<\/p>\n
“It’s sending out a really strong signal to overwhelm the signal of your security cameras, your alarm system, your cell phones,” Nigel Neilsen, who runs the IT firm Idealtek, said.<\/p>\n
When Munoz and Barra were arrested last month, they were initially booked on charges of tampering with government records.<\/p>\n
Munoz had a fake Mexican passport and fraudulent car title, according to court records, while Barra is alleged to have used a fake Argentinian ID to rent an apartment.<\/p>\n
Days later, Munoz was charged with the Oct. 4 burglary of a home in a gated Royal Oaks neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Investigators said he broke in through a window after jumping a fence and then pried open a safe and stole four watches, each worth thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n
When police searched his apartment, they said they found watches, jewelry, and other pricey items. In his child’s bedroom, they said they found pry bars and a jamming device.<\/p>\n
While the tampering charges against Munoz and Barra were later dropped, Munoz currently faces the burglary charge, and Barra is being held on a warrant out of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
Both are also wanted by federal immigration authorities.<\/p>\n
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