Four plead guilty in burglary ring targeting Asian business owners

Four Colombian nationals have pleaded guilty in federal court in a burglary ring that prosecutors say selected Asian American business owners across Oregon and Washington, including victims in Eugene. The crew used short-term rentals, surveillance and commercial-grade Wi-Fi signal jammers to hit homes while the owners were at work, a pattern officials say exposed a serious vulnerability for immigrant-owned, cash-heavy businesses whose operators often bring business proceeds or valuables home.

One of the defendants, Jhon Alexander Quintero, also known as Edwin Andres Cadena-Pineda, 45, pleaded guilty March 31 to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen goods. Federal prosecutors said Quintero and six co-conspirators burglarized homes in Auburn, Washington, Gresham, Eugene and Salem between Oct. 3 and Oct. 9, 2025. In each of those burglaries, prosecutors said, the victims were Asian American business owners who were away working at their businesses when the break-ins happened.

Investigators said the ring was highly organized and well-funded. Court filings describe travelers moving from state to state, staying in short-term rentals, identifying and watching targets, then using perimeter countersurveillance, group phone calls and signal jamming technology to get in and out without immediate detection. Agents recovered cash and property, more than a dozen cell phones, passports, wiring evidence tied to Bogota, Colombia, and jammers used to disrupt wireless signals.

The Eugene case carried particular weight in Lane County. Eugene police said they became aware of the crew between the Eugene and Salem burglaries, then surveilled and searched the group’s Eugene rental the night of the Salem burglary. KEZI reported that Eugene police believed about 21 burglaries had occurred in the city since late 2023, and that seven suspects were arrested at an Airbnb on Skyline Boulevard on Oct. 9, 2025. Police also recovered stolen property believed to have come from a Salem burglary and seized four vehicles.

Lane County law enforcement later confirmed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained two men after they were released from Lane County Jail. A Homeland Security spokesperson told KEZI that ICE had arrested four criminal illegal aliens from Colombia who were tied to roughly 20 home invasions and burglaries over several months. In all, seven people were charged in the case, and three remain at large.

Federal prosecutors have treated the case as part of a broader interstate pattern, not a one-off burglary spree. In 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey said a New York man admitted participating in a similar conspiracy targeting Asian and Asian-American small business owners across several states. For Lane County, the warning is immediate: Eugene-area business owners with predictable schedules, cash on hand or valuables stored at home remain attractive targets when a crew knows how to watch, jam and move before alarms can do their work.