South American bank robbery crew used flames and elaborate disguises to rip off $4 million in string of wild West Coast robberies: Feds

A reckless crew of South American bank robbers disguised themselves as construction workers and used blowtorches, cellphone jammers and other “sophisticated tactics” to rip off at least $4 million in a string of wild thefts on the West Coast, according to the feds who busted them.

The group of 11 thieves — most of them 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 Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but there is no record of officials meeting him at the border, meaning he could have sneaked into the US as an “escape” or through a legal immigration program, according to federal law enforcement sources.

In a scheme fit for a Hollywood script, the bank robbery team allegedly cut through the wall of a pet store, broke into bank vaults with sledgehammers and rented getaway cars on the black market, U.S. Attorney Phillip said Thursday A. Talbert.

They spent days canvassing nearby banks and businesses, used cell phone signal jammers to disable wireless security devices and rented nearby Airbnbs to pull off the robberies, prosecutors said.

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

In a Sept. 18 heist, crooks allegedly cut through the wall of a pet spa in Fresno, Calif., and climbed into a Wells Fargo before breaking into an ATM safe and making off with $247,000 . according to prosecutors.

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

In another incident on September 28, thieves allegedly used torches and saws to break into Tri Counties Bank and its vaults in Fall River Mills, California, but were interrupted and fled, leaving the power tools behind.

The crew apprehended 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 idea the car was equipped with the tracking device — which revealed the vehicle’s location history was related to the robbery, the media reported.

Investigators found robbery tools, disguises, fake identification 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 with the bank robberies include:

• Maite Celis Silva, 26, from Chile

• Erik Osorio Olivarez, 20, from Chile

• Pablo Valdez Rodriguez, 36, from Chile

• Rosa Bastias Serra, 42, from Chile

• Camilo Sepulveda Guzman, 31, from Peru

• Bassil Dacosta Frias, 34, from Venezuela

• Camilo Alarcon Alarcon, 23, from Chile

• Michelle Parada Munoz, 21, from Chile

• Alvaro Lagos Mieres, 44, from Chile

• Humberto Jimenez Moreno, 45, from Chile