International Organized Crime Arrives in Lake Stevens

Professional pan-handlers associated with the Romani Crime Family spotted at Frontier Village; Arlington police chief cites FBI, warns of increasing Romani crime. Plus: 36-page Fed charging doc

PLEASE HELP : HAVE 5 KIDS : PAMPERS MILK

FRONTIER VILLAGE — It all looks innocent enough. At first. But what initially appears to be a mother and child in need of help is actually a proscribed criminal set piece, designed to separate locals from their money — and possibly a watch and a chain or two as well.

At Frontier Village yesterday, J425 documented a middle aged woman in a black button up dress with a white paisley long sleeve shirt underneath.

J425 photo

Tman held a block-lettered sign reading “PLEASE HELP : HAVE 5 KIDS : PAMPERS MILK”.

Sitting in the grass behind the woman - but in clear view of passerbys: a young female child.

Given the 83 degree afternoon heat, the child would’ve been better served under the shade of a tree line several yards away.

But the child’s utility in the scam is more important to the woman than the child’s comfort.

While the image portrayed by the woman and child at Frontier Village yesterday looked sympathetic enough, the image is actually a set piece scam, designed to prey on the targeted community by weaponizing the empathy of well-meaning middle class locals.

J425 photo.

In point of fact, the J425 report documented Romani Crime Family aka “gypsy” professional panhandlers operating outside Taco Time and Safeway yesterday in an exclusive initially published to Instagram.

The photos show a woman with the distinctive Romani-style block lettered sign and a child sitting in clear view, just behind the woman.

“(The female pan-handler) is traveling thousands of miles just to tell you that she has no money for milk and pampers. Bellevue to Sammamish to Issaquah to Shoreline to Bremerton to Tacoma, back and forth everyday, then going state to state, and on and on.” - Street Scammers FB

When J425 published the Instagram post yesterday titled “Organized crime hits Lake Stevens” — several readers scoffed at the notion, given the fact that the headline ran atop a photo of a woman panhandling with a young child in the Safeway parking lot.

j425live

A post shared by @j425live

But as J425 exclusively reported, the woman is an alleged member of an international crime family based in Bucharest, Romania — with multiple nodes of operation up and down the West Coast.

The woman and child are typically watched by males in an adjacent SUV, who transport the pair to locations across the region in an attempt to relieve residents of funds — and often times personal items including jewelry and watches.

And according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the professional pan handling seen at Frontier Village is one facet of a “transnational criminal enterprises (that) entered the United States illegally for the sole purpose of conducting criminal activity.”

Importantly for J425 readers — those unaware of what exactly is occurring can quickly become victims of a well-rehearsed criminal ploy — as has been the case with numerous Arlington residents targeted in Romani crime operations this year, but more on that below.

Yesterday, J425 watched multiple cars reach out to the woman over a period of several moments, putting themselves at risk of both finding a criminal organization that exploits children — and losing a watch.

A Justice Department report filed in support of a 2023 indictment stated that Romani panhandlers are often skilled pickpockets, and that the pan handling is often as much of a ruse to draw potential victims into close proximity as it is an attempt to raise money through sympathy donations.

Once a sympathetic driver is within reach, skilled Romani pickpockets can relieve a person of a watch or even a chain without the victim noticing.

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But Are You Allowed to Say Gypsy?

According to a Justice Department report, on Romani organized crime, the Romani people migrated from India to Europe over a thousand years ago and have remained in tight-nit multi-generational units across Eastern Europe and, increasingly in immigrant communities in Western countries.

The report states that the organized criminal element within the Romani ethnic group is commonly referred to as Gypsies and are mainly involved in nonviolent criminal activity. The DOJ report emphasizes that, as with most ethnic-based organized crime groups, only a small percentage of the Romani community are involved in criminal enterprises. Thus, while the terms Romani and/or Gypsy are appropriate, it’s also incumbent to focus on the crime and criminal organization specific to each situation and to avoid stereotyping or slandering the Romani community in its entirety.

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Romani Crime Wave Hits Snohomish County

Locally, Snohomish County cities have increasingly warned citizens to be aware of Romani crime family activity.

Arlington, in particular, has been hard-hit this year.

In March, Arlington (WA) police chief Jonathan Ventura warned

(Continue past the jump for details on Snohomish County Romani-linked crimes, a list of other cities the recent visitor to Frontier Village has been seen in, and a 36-page sealed charging document from the U.S. Attorney in San Diego. His complaint lays out the size and seriousness of this crime ring.)