The NFL has issued a security alert to all teams and players following the recent burglaries of Kansas City Chiefs duo Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes.
After Kelce and Mahomes’ Kansas-based properties were raided by thieves last month, the league has sent a warning to team security directors and the players’ union this week about organized and skilled criminals that are targeting the homes of professional athletes.
On Wednesday it was revealed that police believe a South American crime ring is behind the recent burglaries of Kelce and Mahomes’ mansions.
The FBI has been investigating the incidents, as well as the burglary of one other current NFL player’s home, and are convinced that the thieves are part of a wider underworld organization.
‘It’s legit,’ an insider is quoted as saying, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. ‘It’s a transnational crime ring, and over the last three weeks, they’ve focused on NBA and NFL players, and it’s all over the country.’
Mahomes and Kelce saw their homes raided last month, with the latter thought to have lost $100,000 in jewelry and his first ever Super Bowl jersey.
The NFL has issued a security alert after the burglaries of Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes
Kansas City quarterback Mahomes reportedly lost jerseys, medals, trophies, awards and more, while the crooks are also believed to have swiped jewelry and designer bags belonging to his wife Brittany.
Reports suggest he and Kelce may have been two victims in a ‘calculated’ spree following other burglaries involving athletes near Minneapolis and Milwaukee.
Burglars are said to have targeted Mahomes’ Belton pad at around midnight on October 6. Kelce’s $6million property across the border in Kansas was then broken into shortly after on October 7, the day the Chiefs faced the New Orleans Saints at Arrowhead Stadium with Taylor Swift watching on in the stands.
Earlier this month, NBA star Bobby Portis said thieves broke in and took ‘most of his prized possessions’ while he was on court for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Following the burglaries, Mahomes is said to have wasted no time in trying to ensure there was no repeat of the burglary at his Belton mansion.
It’s claimed the 29-year-old beefed up security at the house just days later, while his gated community has also taken extra measures to avoid any more break-ins.
Mahomes last week broke his silence on the robbery. ‘Obviously, it’s frustrating. It’s disappointing,’ the quarterback said.
‘Obviously something that you don’t want to have happen to really anybody. But obviously yourself.’
Mahomes and Kelce both live in the Kansas City suburbs, around half an hour from Arrowhead Stadium. Kelce moved into his new home in Leawood, Kansas last year, while the Mahomes family resides in Belton, Missouri.
