International thieves return to Metro Detroit, targeting high-end neighborhoods
(CBS DETROIT) - Authorities say international thieves are targeting luxury high-end homes again in Metro Detroit.
Police estimate about 100 teams, consisting of three to four people, are scattered throughout America, with three groups hitting Oakland County homes in the last week or so.
"They come in teams with backpacks, each backpack has a different tool set, some are breaching tools, some are electronics to jam alarm systems," said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.
A few months back, Chilean gangs were arrested after breaking into homes in the metro area. Other areas, like Phoenix and Baltimore, have a similar problem.
For homeowners in the area, especially ones with higher-profile neighbors, it's cause for concern.
"We have a lot of traffic around. I personally haven't seen anything out of the ordinary – but we did see trail cams in the woods. We were told it was either Farmington Hills Police or Oakland County," said Christi Kauffman.
Bouchard says the thieves are typically surveilling homes and checking routines. Also, many burglarized homes involve homeowners who live in other places.
"Try to have redundances of communication, you have a hard-wired phone, you have an internet phone. A cellular phone, a radio backup," Bouchard said.
Knocking on doors throughout Oakland County and talking with the community, many tell CBS News Detroit they've heard of the issue. Some even took the extra mile to beef up their home security.
"We all look out for each other here, and we are aware of the comings and goings like if it's a car we've never seen in the neighborhood, we kind of give it a second glance," Kauffman said.
The sheriff didn't mention specific neighborhoods or names but did say some of the victims are well-known in the community.
At one point last year, the thieves were stealing at least a million dollars worth of goods, the sheriff told us.