Sheriff: 17 Colombian men linked to 120 Houston-area burglaries (Video)

Four suspects in Fort Bend County Jail are under holds by immigration officials, including Carlos Alberto Riasco Valencia, 35; Layonel Mosquera Mondragon, 31; Harold Jesus Lerma Mosquera, 43; and Reynaldo Rivera Centeno, 44. Some have been deported before, at least one of them twice.

A three-month investigation focused on burglaries investigators have called “unusual” has resulted in the arrests of 17 men from Columbia.

The arrests are the result of combing through 120 burglary calls which occurred over the last year, according to the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office. They describe the suspects as Colombian Nationals who targeted those of Middle Eastern, Asian and Pakistani descent.

Detectives say the men were responsible for 49 burglaries in 2016 across Fort bend, Harris and Brazoria counties.

“We do know that they worked in groups. separate groups,” Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls said.

He says the men would break the glass in master bathrooms and seek out expensive jewelry, high-end purses and cash.

“They stayed inside that master bedroom focused on the jewelry and the money and they were gone. Very quickly,” Nehls said.

Detectives began connecting the cases at first because of their timing: they found in curious that they occurred in the evening, not the middle of the day as they say burglaries usually are. It’s not clear how the suspects chose their targets.

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