NYC Detectives’ Endowment Association president warns on 'Fox & Friends' about migrant moped gangs
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Co-host Steve Doocy was joined by NYC Detectives’ Endowment Association president Paul DiGiacomo to discuss the rise of a migrant moped gang in the city, on the February 8 episode of 'Fox & Friends'.
According to a statement by NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, the miscreants are part of "a wave of migrant crime" plaguing New York City. He compared the members to ghosts, as they were undocumented illegal immigrants with no phones, no social media, and at times, no known names or dates of birth.
Paul DiGiacomo's take on migrant gang
"This is the organized crime. It's just like the mafia," DiGiacomo told Doocy.
"But it's a non-traditional organized crime group and it's a continuing criminal enterprise. This is something that has to be worked on, on a double prong with the NYPD and the federal government to really stop this syndicate."
He felt that those associated with the group are not being held accountable for their actions, saying, "Even if it's a big crime, they don't do any time at all. For three years now, we've been telling Albany that the bail reform laws are not working."
"And, clearly, they're not working because these individuals are out. You know, this law has to be changed to hold criminals accountable for their actions. And there must be consequences. And until we have consequences, crime will continue to go up."
"This has to be an effort by the NYPD, the federal government, and we have to work hand in hand to make sure that these individuals are properly punished," DiGiacomo concluded.
NYPD crackdown on migrant robbery ring
Police raided a migrant robbery ring with ties to Venezuela and made several arrests, while some members still remain at large.
At a news briefing on February 5, officials named 8 suspects in connection with the ring, including alleged mastermind Victor Parra, as well as Cleyber Andrada, Juan Uzcatgui, Yan Jimenez, Anthony Ramos, Richard Saledo, Beike Jimenez, and Maria Manaura.
Parra allegedly sent out a notice for specific models of phones he wanted, connecting the other members from across the city who would steal scooters and swipe phones and purses away from victims.
The group had a tech guy to hack into phones and access banking and financial apps and drain the accounts, alleged officials.
Once done or faced with a block, the phones were sent around the country or to Colombia to be reprogrammed and sold.
