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Manhasset, NY--Three men allegedly linked to a South American theft ring were arrested in Queens for their alleged involvement in a jewelry store burglary, according to Nassau County Police. The trio reportedly steals around $150,000 worth of jewelry from Manhasset Jewelers on Plandome Road in Manhasset.

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According to a News 12 report, the suspects, identified as Patricio E Villaseca Leiva, Mauro A Suoza Montecinos, and Luciano Aguilera Navarro, are all undocumented immigrants. Police state that South American theft groups often operate out of the New York City area.

In the report, Detective Sgt. Jeffrey Raymond of the Nassau County Police Department says that members of the theft groups arriving in the United States will assume a different identity, begin a criminal enterprise, move to another state, and use a different name once arrested in one area.

The report added that two suspects were required to report to the authorities due to past crimes. "If it's a commercial burglary, you cannot hold that individual on bail, so these three individuals that we've arrested were supposed to report for ankle bracelets, and they just didn't show up," stated Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman in the report.

The report noted that Leiva was held on $1 bail as he is charged as a fugitive from justice for a crime in Maryland. Authorities from Maryland are expected to retrieve him, police say. Despite the order for Montecinos and Navarro to acquire ankle bracelets, both were released and failed to report, leading to concerns about their whereabouts.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder expressed his concerns in the report, saying, “The problem is they have walked out of our custody and are back on the streets of Nassau County.”

Learn more in the News 12 report.