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The illegal immigrant suspect arrested for allegedly robbing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has been identified as 49-year-old Chilean national Mario Bustamante-Leiva.
Illegal Immigrant Suspect Who Allegedly Robbed DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Arrested
According to the New York Post, Leiva was “previously busted for a similar scheme in London.”
“On Saturday, April 26, 2025, members of the Metropolitan Police Department and the United States Secret Service located and arrested 49-year-old Mario Bustamante Leiva,” the MPD told Newsweek.
“Leiva was charged with two counts of Robbery (Stealth). He faces additional charges for an offense being investigated by the United States Secret Service,” it added.
🚨New: The person who stole Kristi Noem’s purse containing $3000 in cash was identified as Mario Bustamante Leiva an illegal alien who is a serial criminal from Chile. He was arrested pic.twitter.com/vosIBBEefe
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) April 27, 2025
From the New York Post:
Bustamante-Leiva, who is in the US illegally, is believed to be part of a large East Coast robbery organization.
Cops later arrested a second suspect in Miami, according to sources.
“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,” Noem wrote on X.
“This individual is a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years,” she added. “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.”
US Attorney Ed Martin said it is not likely that Noem was targeted based on her high-profile position, adding that the suspects were probably attracted to the pricey Gucci bag — which also contained her driver’s license, passport, DHS badge and apartment keys.
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
Per Newsweek:
Separately, Secret Service Washington Field Office Special Agent in Charge Matt McCool told Newsweek in statement, “Following a comprehensive investigation, the Secret Service alleges that the defendant is a serial offender. We have also determined that this incident had no protective nexus to Secretary Noem or her role as Secretary of Homeland Security.”
McCool added: “The investigation revealed alleged criminal activity, including potential device and credit card fraud. Given this, the Secret Service will maintain jurisdiction over the case and intends to present its findings to a federal court in coordination with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.”
An anonymous law enforcement source talking to CNN said that while Leiva is in custody, multiple other arrests are expected due to the wider connection to a possible theft ring. Additionally, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin told NBC News that Leiva was in the country illegally and believes Leiva will not “be back on the streets in America.”
In an article published by The Standard in March 2015, it reported that Leiva was briefly jailed for stealing everything from purses to phones and jewelry from women across London. The then 39-year-old spent four months across the city, targeting women in bars, restaurants and coffee shops.
The outlet reported that Leiva was Chilean and unemployed at the time of his arrest in the United Kingdom, adding that police caught him after he got sloppy while stealing a bag at a bar, at which point police identified him based on CCTV footage of his other crimes. They arrested him at a second bar where he was listening to an iPod he had stolen from someone.
He faced 22 separate charges of theft between July and December 2014 and was sentenced to 12 months concurrent for attempted burglary.