After a recent string of burglaries at professional athletes’ houses, the NBA has issued a memo to its players about home security. According to the Associated Press, which obtained a copy of the memo, the league urged players to take additional precautions when away from home. Those precautions ranged from updating alarm systems and keeping valuables in safes to using “protective guard services” during road trips and even having dogs around for security purposes.
In September, while Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley was attending a Minnesota Vikings game, burglars broke into his house and stole jewelry, Medina Police Chief Jason Nelson told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. In November, Milwaukee Bucks center Bobby Portis said “most of my prized possessions” had been stolen from his house while he was at a game and offered a $40,000 reward for any information that led to the return of the stolen items.
According to the memo, the FBI has connected recent burglaries to “transnational South American Theft Groups.” These “reportedly well-organized, sophisticated” crime rings “incorporate advanced techniques and technologies, including pre-surveillance, drones, and signal jamming devices.” The FBI believes that the rings are “primarily focused on cash and items that can be resold on the black market, such as jewelry, watches, and luxury bags.”
The NFL sent its players a similar security alert this week. The homes of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs were both broken into in October, just days apart.
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