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Sheriff describes Chilean, Colombian and Venezuelan gang activity; urges scrutiny of Visa Waiver Program
Summary
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard told the oversight subcommittee that transnational criminal teams from Chile, Colombia and Venezuela are active in Michigan, described sophisticated burglary and fencing operations, and urged federal restrictions on Chile’s Visa Waiver Program to increase screening.
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard told the House Oversight Subcommittee that transnational criminal groups from Chile, Colombia and Venezuela have been active in Southeast Michigan, operating in organized teams that commit rapid, high‑value burglaries and quickly fence stolen goods.
Bouchard said Chilean crews arrested in Oakland County were often using the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) to enter the United States, and he and another county sheriff recently wrote to the U.S. administration and Congress asking that Chile be removed from the VWP. “One hundred percent of the Chileans we’ve arrested for home burglaries in Oakland County were on the Visa Waiver Program,” Bouchard said.
He described the groups’ tactics as professional and specialized — breachers, electronic countermeasures to jam alarms and cameras, watchers, and rapid export and fencing networks in U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, Miami and New York. Bouchard said traffickers also use credit‑card skimming and immediate electronic transfers to move value to foreign accounts.
Why it matters: Committee members asked whether the people were in the country legally or illegally; Bouchard said Chileans arrested in his county had primarily used the VWP while Colombian and Venezuelan suspects were more often in the country without authorization. He urged stronger border and diplomatic measures as part of disrupting transnational networks.
Enforcement and intelligence: Bouchard described a regional task force he organized across Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties to coordinate local and federal efforts, and cited recent arrests that he said were directly attributable to Mexican cartel activity. He recommended continued and expanded cooperation with federal partners — in particular the DEA — and use of intelligence‑sharing frameworks to “climb the chain” to higher‑level traffickers.
Ending: The sheriff’s testimony prompted committee questions about border screening, extradition and whether deportations and removals have reduced recidivist activity; he said extraditions and cooperation vary by country but are improving in some cases.
