BSO says detectives broke up theft ring that used canals to access Weston homes
Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives say they broke up a sophisticated home burglary ring that targeted a gated community in Weston and cost homeowners more than $2 million from August through January, sometimes using inflatable boats to access the properties.
In one break-in in November, thieves removed a safe from a Windmill Ranch home containing about $500,000 in gold and jewelry, according to the arrest report of one of the men arrested this month. That man, Jose Elias Barrozo-Espinosa, 38, left blood on a window shade and the tile floor of the master bedroom, where he broke the glass to get inside the home, the report states.
Detectives submitted the blood to a crime lab and matched the DNA collected to Barrozo-Espinoza, according to the report. He was arrested last month in connection to a burglary in Indiana and extradited to South Florida on Monday, records show.
The sheriff’s office also announced this week the arrest of Daniel Osorio-Valencia, 42, who has been in jail since getting caught hiding in the Windmill Ranch neighborhood on Dec. 31 after he and another man allegedly broke into a home and stole jewelry and a wallet, records show.
According to Osorio-Valencia’s arrest report, he and the other man also tried stealing a safe in that home. Their plans were disrupted when the residents, who were not home, received a doorbell-camera alert that someone entered the house.
When deputies found Osorio-Valencia, he was carrying a backpack that contained high-tech burglary tools, including a Wi-Fi jammer and walkie-talkies, as well as blunt instruments, such as a mini-sledgehammer and a large screwdriver, the arrest report states.
Sheriff’s office spokesman Carey Codd said four other people have been arrested in unrelated crimes, but detectives believe they are part of the same theft ring.
“The investigation involving these individuals is active and ongoing,” Codd said in a statement.
Codd said detectives believe members of the group are part of a South American criminal outfit that targets high-end homes by using surveillance technology prior to breaking in through rear sliding-glass doors and windows.
In some instances, Codd said the thieves even used inflatable boats to traverse canals to access the neighborhood.
Barrozo-Espinoza and Osorio-Valencia are in Broward County’s Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale. Barrozo-Espinoza is being held on a total bond of $200,000, and Osorio-Valencia’s total bond is $18,500. Both men are also being held on immigration detainers, according to jail records.
Barrozo-Espinoza’s address is listed as Fort Lauderdale, but his arrest report says he is from Chile. Information on his legal counsel was not immediately available.
Osorio-Valencia’s has a Miami address on his arrest affidavit, but his country of birth is listed as Colombia. He is being represented by the Broward County Public Defender’s Office, which could not immediately be reached for comments.
