A gang of Colombian migrants made off with millions of dollars worth of gems in heists in several states, fencing their booty through a Putnam Valley jewelry peddler who paid cut-rate prices, federal prosecutors said this week.
The gang of Colombian nationals ran a “South American Theft Group” operated in Florida, Georgia, California and elsewhere targeting traveling jewelry salespeople, and stores from September 2019 to August 2021, authorities said.
Their biggest score came in February 2020, when they robbed as much as $2.6 million in merchandise — from a traveling jewelry salesperson in Boynton Beach, Florida, court records show. The year before, they nabbed $730,000 in jewelry during a September theft from a car in Boca Raton and $125,000 during a November robbery in Miami Beach.
Equipment used by illegal migrants in a Long Island burglary, in which the thieves used a saw to break into a business in Woodbury. Dennis A. Clark
All the stolen merchandise was unloaded to Mark Simon, a Westchester County resident who allegedly paid cash and often traveled to Florida to meet them in hotel rooms rented by someone under a fake name, prosecutors said.
Simon, 56, allegedly paid rock bottom prices for the stolen merchandise — including just $16,000 for the $1 million worth of jewels stolen in a burglary in Dalton, Georgia, according to prosecutors and court records.
Simon was arrested Wednesday at his home in Jefferson Valley on charges on conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and released on $50,000 bond, records show. He pleaded not guilty.
South American Theft groups have been blamed for thefts around the country. Fox News
Authorities say South American Theft gangs from Colombia have operated in six Florida counties. Polk County Sheriffs Office
It’s unclear if any of the thieves, who were not publicly identified, have been arrested or deported.
South American Theft groups have committed brazen crimes around the country, including the December robbery at Cinncinati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s Ohio home, where a trio of Chilean thieves allegedly stole $300,000 in luxury goods.
A similar gang is believed to have been behind October burglaries at the homes of Kansas City Chiefs stars Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
In November, six illegal migrants who were part of a South American Theft Group used saws to break into a jewelry store on Long Island and were later nabbed — only to flee after five of them were freed on bail, with some of the suspects using the saws to cut off ankle monitors they’d received.
Violent illegal migrants used saws to break into a Long Island jewelry store, then relied on the trusty tool again after being busted — to cut off their ankle monitors and flee, officials said Tuesday.
