KENT COUNTY, Mich. — Nine people have been arrested and charged in what the Kent County Sheriff's Office called "one of the largest multi-state burglary operations" recently connected to the county.
These nine, authorities say, are tied to the burglary ring commonly referred to as the South American Theft Group or SATG, known for their carefully coordinated operation that spans state lines, which makes them difficult to track down.
A burglary from more than a year ago is how the sheriff's office caught hold of the case.
In December 2024, cash, coins, family heirlooms and gold were stolen from a home in Cascade Township. Per KCSO, the suspects, who were staying at a short-term rental in Jackson County, placed tracking devices on the victims' cars and waited until they were at work to commit the crime.
"We have knowledge of these South American Theft Groups, said Sgt. Scott Dietrich, the public information officer for KCSO. "That's when our detectives found out fairly quickly that this was a much broader theft ring that was going on."
A total of seven people were believed to be connected to the burglary in Cascade Township.
Since then, four have been arrested: John Quinterro-Herrera and Paul Mendoza-Arevalo in Wisconsin and Wendy Acosta-Arevalo and William Villarraga-Joya in California.
They have all since pleaded guilty in federal court to transporting stolen property across state lines.
Regarding the three others who allegedly played a role in the burglary, two have not yet been identified by police and another has a warrant out for his arrest.
"When we have a case like this, we dig into them and we're going to use all available assets and resources to figure out what's going on," Dietrich said.
Due in part to the detective work done by the Kent County Sheriff's Office, five others with ties to the SATG have also been arrested in the past ten months.
Dilan Prieto-Rivera, Cristian Garzon and Nino Gutierrez-Serrato were arrested in Wisconsin and charged in Wisconsin state court and Iesua Ramirez-Perez and Ivan Chaparro-Perez were arrested in New Jersey and charged in federal court in Grand Rapids.
"We're not just looking out for ourselves to solve our case and move on," Dietrich said. "If they're connected to other jurisdictions, we're going to notify those jurisdictions and help them figure out how they can help solve theirs."
Dietrich says this group was connected to at least 19 other burglaries nationwide with total losses topping $1.6 million.
They often targeted Asian and Middle Eastern immigrant business owners, "stalking victims and stealing large amounts of money and jewelry and property."
"They will watch people. They will research on the internet who the owners of these businesses are, where they live. They'll watch their patterns, and they will literally stalk them for weeks," Dietrich said. "We as police have to be above that. We have to have better technology, we have to have better coordination. We have to have more motivation than they do, which is exactly what we have here at Kent County."
