South American Organized Crime, Home Burglary, and High-Tech Surveillance

​We reported earlier this month that Los Angeles police are alarmed at the proliferation of wireless cameras installed in bushes that allow criminals to remotely surveil homes targeted for burglaries.
 
Now police in Braintree, Massachusetts, have arrested two men and a woman in connection to a series of burglaries enabled by these remote, wireless cameras. One of the suspects, a Colombian man wearing all black and a mask, was arrested and charged with resisting arrest and assault and battery on a police officer, after attempting to flee when he was allegedly caught retrieving a wireless camera in front of a home that had been burgled.
 
The three people arrested are, according to Braintree police, connected to a group known as the South American Theft Group, which uses extensive surveillance, GPS tracking technology, and counter-surveillance measures to analyze the comings and goings of their victims. The commoditization of spyware and the popularization of sophisticated plans for surveillance is driving this revolution in neighborhood crime.
 
What can we do? In addition to the customary precautions of installing locks and alarms, outdoor lights, and installing security cameras, you should avoid posting advance notice of family vacations. Criminals are watching your social media posts as well.