Chilean authorities have confirmed the handover of six valuable watches, including an engraved Rolex worth at least $9,500, stolen from actor Keanu Reeves, to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. The announcement on Tuesday follows their recovery months earlier in a police raid.
The FBI is now set to arrange for their return to the star, known for his roles in action franchises such as The Matrix and John Wick. Chilean prosecutors stated that Mr Reeves had identified the timepieces as those taken from his Los Angeles home during a series of high-profile burglaries in December 2023.
The announcement was made as Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security during the Trump administration, arrived in the South American country for meetings with Chilean officials about transnational crime, among other issues.
Noem was also the victim of a robbery attributed to a Chilean national residing illegally in the U.S., when her purse was stolen last April at a Washington restaurant.
Reeves' six watches are valued at a total of $125,000, said Marcelo Varas, a police officer from Chile's robbery investigation squad.
The watches stolen from Reeves' Hollywood Hills home turned up in Santiago, Chile's capital, when police raided homes and uncovered stolen cars, iPhones, luxury watches and designer purses.
That operation coincided with another Chilean investigation, coordinated with the FBI, into a spate of burglaries by South America-based crime groups targeting multimillion-dollar homes in the U.S., many belonging to celebrities and professional athletes, such as Kansas City Chiefs football player Travis Kelce.
In April, police in Chile announced the arrest of 23 citizens over the string of break-ins.
Varas said authorities were still investigating any link between the theft of Reeves’ watches and the other high-profile burglaries.
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