Second illegal alien arrested in Noem purse theft, authorities suspect organized robbery ring connection

A second arrest has been made in the case of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s stolen Gucci purse.

The designer handbag, reportedly stuffed with cash amounting to $3,000, was lifted right out from under Noem’s nose while she happily dined with her family at The Capital Burger on Easter. Primary suspect Mario Bustamante-Leiva, a 49-year-old Chilean national, was arrested on Saturday in Washington, D.C., and authorities have announced that an alleged accomplice has been arrested in Miami. While authorities are not releasing the identity of this person just yet, they have confirmed the individual was also in the United States illegally.

Authorities were shocked by how boldly the thieves acted, lifting the purse in broad daylight. This leads many to believe it was done in connection with an East Coast organized robbery ring which, according to the Daily Mail, consists of “career criminals exploiting America’s immigration failures while targeting wealthy and high-profile individuals.”

This theory is bolstered by reporting from DM that this is not Bustamante-Leiva’s first run-in with the law. In 2015, it was reported that he was considered “one of London’s most prolific robbers waging a five-month robbery spree across the capital’s swankiest venues.”

“He was jailed for three years after stealing nearly $28,000 worth of laptops, mobile phones, wallets, and passports,” the outlet wrote. “London’s Metropolitan Police at the time described him as one of the city’s ‘most prolific’ pickpockets, targeting exclusive bars, restaurants, and coffee shops.”

“He admitted 22 charges of theft between July and December 2014. CCTV footage from the spree showed Bustamante-Leiva nonchalantly swiping handbags from directly beneath the noses of unsuspecting patrons,” they continued, describing a crime exactly like what had happened to Noem.

The DHS secretary took to X to express her appreciation for the immigration authorities that captured Bustamante-Leiva.

Thank you to @SecretService @ICEgov and our law enforcement partners for finding and arresting the criminal who stole my bag on Easter Sunday as I shared a meal with my family at a Washington DC restaurant.

This individual is a career criminal who has been in our country…

— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) April 27, 2025

“Thank you to [Secret Service,] [ICE] and our law enforcement partners for finding and arresting the criminal who stole my bag on Easter Sunday as I shared a meal with my family at a Washington DC restaurant,” she wrote. “This individual is a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years.”

“Unfortunately, so many families in this country have been made victims by crime, and that’s why President Trump is working every single day to make America safe and get these criminal aliens off of our streets,” Noem added.

While on The Vince Show podcast, she described exactly how the alleged thief was able to take her purse out from underneath her.

“He hooked it with his foot and dragged it a few steps away, and dropped a coat over it and took it… I think I was a busy grandma with four grandkids under the age of four, and I was taking care of them and feeding them food and enjoying my family, yeah, but certainly had my purse even touching my feet,” she explained.

In the bag was the $3,000 cash, some makeup, a passport, her driver’s license, medication, DHS badge, keys to her apartment, and a number of blank checks.

“It was professionally done,” she noted, remarking on the skill of the heist. “It tells me that this happens all the time to people, and that they live in communities where this is a danger.”

Noem’s Secret Service detail was at the restaurant, but none were aware of the theft until after the purse was long gone.

Writer/Columnist

Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to BizPac Review.

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