Tipsheet

Illegal Alien Who Snatched DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's Purse Has Been Identified

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  April 28, 2025 6:30 AM

Earlier this month, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s purse, which contained $3,000 in cash, her passport, and other items, was stolen at The Capital Burger in Washington, DC. It was a caper that took some chutzpah. It was also an embarrassing event for her security detail. Over the weekend, it was discovered that the individual who took Noem’s purse was an illegal alien. We now have his name. Another suspect was also arrested for being part of this crime (via NY Post): 

The masked migrant who was arrested for stealing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s Gucci bag containing $3,000 in cash is a Chilean national who was previously busted for a similar scheme in London, law enforcement sources told The Post. 

Mario Bustamante-Leiva, 49, of Santiago, was arrested on Saturday after he allegedly made off with the luxury shoulder bag while Noem, 53, was at an  Easter outing with her family at The Capital Burger in Washington, DC, sources told The 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 — another illegal migrant — in Miami and are holding him on a deportation notice while finalizing charges, according to sources. 

The two suspects allegedly work together as a pair and have committed similar robbery schemes across the country, the sources said. 

[…] 

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. 

“It was frankly… a nice looking purse. This was not an amateur. This was a person, a thief, that knew how to do this. You could see how he scouted the room out,” Martin told NBC News. 

Noem's bag contained $3,000 in cash, her driver’s license, passport, DHS badge and apartment keys.

Ms. Noem thanked federal law enforcement agencies for identifying and arresting this discount Ocean’s 11 crew.

“This individual is a career criminal who has been in our country illegally for years,” she said. “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.”