(The Center Square) – A multi-agency operation led by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office broke up a transnational theft ring operated by Columbian nationals who illegally entered the country in Texas and Arizona. They made their way to Polk County, Florida, where they allegedly targeted wealthy Asian Americans.
Three were released into the country by Border Patrol agents. One was previously deported and illegally reentered evading capture, among two million gotaways during the Biden-Harris administration.
All have extensive criminal records, in Columbia, Kansas, Michigan and New York, investigators found.
Two are currently detained in county jails, one was deported, and one remains at large.
“I want you to imagine this,” Sheriff Grady Judd said at a news conference. “You come to this country legally. You go through the processes. After you come here, you establish a small business. You work really hard with all of your family members and you’re able to live in a nice community, a gated community,” referring to the Asian American victims.
The case is being looked into as a potential hate crime, he said.
“The people that committed this hate crime against these wonderful Americans, many of them came to this country, or their forefathers came to this country, to start businesses and be successful and live the American dream, were victimized by a bunch of illegal aliens who came here as criminals to do criminal acts,” he said.
The arrests were the culmination of a two-year multi-agency investigation into high-end burglaries committed by South American Theft Groups (SATGs). SATGs have been increasingly targeting Americans as illegal border crossings skyrocketed under the Biden-Harris administration, The Center Square first reported. They are primarily operated by Columbian and Chilean nationals who illegally enter the U.S. or exploit a visa program, officials have explained.
In this case, four Columbians illegally entered the country and made their way to Winter Garden, Florida, where they allegedly targeted victims, committed nine residential high-end burglaries in six counties, and stole nearly $1.7 million of their belongings, Judd said.
Detectives from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office collaborated with sheriff’s offices in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee, and Collier counties, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has repeatedly claimed illegal foreign nationals are vetted before being released, or those with criminal histories are deported. According to the Florida investigation, all four Columbians they arrested have extensive criminal histories.
Geraldine Galeano-Perez, 33, currently being held in the Polk County Jail, was arrested in Hillsborough and Polk counties in April 2024 on multiple felony charges.
Investigators uncovered a lengthy rap sheet, including serving nearly five years in prison in Bogota for illegal trafficking/possession of firearms and ammunition and grand larceny.
She illegally entered the U.S. in July 2021 near Hidalgo, Texas, was apprehended by Border Patrol agents, given a notice to appear before an immigration judge and released into the country.
Milton Ayala-Sierra, 25, illegally entered with her. He was also apprehended, given an NTA and enrolled in a Biden-Harris “Alternatives to Detention” parole program. He violated it when he removed his GPS tracking device.
They both failed to appear before an immigration judge and were ordered to be removed from the country in absentia in December 2022. Their removal orders were again issued in 2023.
In 2022, they were both arrested on money laundering charges in New York. New York City police officers also arrested Ayala-Sierra on charges including driving without a license. Two years later, multiple felony charges were brought against him by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and Kissimmee Police Department. By May, federal authorities determined he was a national security threat, and he was deported in June.
Jason Higuera-Ruiz, 41, was charged in Polk County with multiple felonies. He illegally entered the U.S. in December 2021 near San Luis, Arizona. Yuma Border Patrol agents released him and instructed him to report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and he was given an NTA. By January 2024, he was arrested in Kansas for a DUI. By April 2024, he was arrested in Hillsborough and Polk counties on multiple charges.
Because he filed asylum paperwork in Denver, he wasn’t detained for deportation. Instead, he was released with a GPS ankle monitor, which he cut off, authorities said, and remains at large.
Geiler Orobio-Cabezas, 36, currently detained in the Pinellas County Jail, also has a criminal history. He was arrested in 2023 in Troy, Michigan, for home invasion/burglary, sentenced to 170 days in jail and ordered to be deported in July 2023. At an unknown date, time and location, he illegally reentered the country as a gotaway. By April 2024, he was arrested in Hillsborough County on multiple felony charges.
