Police in Weston and other Massachusetts communities are warning the public about organized burglaries targeting people of Indian and South Asian descent, with a focus on second-floor windows, which are often not attached to sensors
The Middlesex District Attorney's Office is expected to address on Thursday a string of crimes targeting members of the Asian American community.
The feds have been called in because local authorities believe they are dealing with part of a nationwide issue — a string of burglaries in which the victims are of South Asian descent.
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In Weston, police said there there have been at least six of these burglaries in the last year. Law enforcement in that community is now working with the Middlesex DA's office and the FBI, which believe this string of break-ins are tied to an international crime ring.
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They're urging all residents — not just South Asian people — to beef up their home security, especially if they plan to travel.
The issue is not just in Weston. There have been more than a dozen burglaries in more than half a dozen communities in Greater Boston where cash and jewelry are being stolen.
Police said that these criminals typically are breaking in during the early evening hours, and entering through a second floor using a ladder and crowbar. Sometimes, they are known to have posed as Amazon workers.
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This has now become a nationwide issue, leaving the South Asian community on high alert.
"The burglars never went downstairs at all," Weston homeowner Saini Priti said. "It was really untouched. And upstairs they went and they managed to find our safe, which was hidden in an attic and they just took the whole thing."
The Middlesex DA will be holding a virtual meeting on Thursday morning with her anti-hate and anti-bias task force, to help come up with strategies to address these kinds of issues.
