What you should know
- Motorcycle thefts in New York City have become more common for suspected thieves to rob people of their belongings across the city.
- Given this, authorities have begun conducting undercover operations on the streets of 5 counties to track down ghost motorcycles involved in these types of crimes.
- Official figures show that more than 14,000 motorcycles were seized in 2023, and that double the number to be seized in 2022. It looks like the record may be broken this year, with nearly 3,000 so far.
NEW YORK – Motorcycle robberies in New York City have become more common for suspected thieves to rob people of their belongings across the city.
Given this, authorities have begun conducting undercover operations on the streets of 5 counties to track down ghost motorcycles involved in these types of crimes.
Right now, the main threat is scooters or scooter Used by thieves and can’t be identified in many cases because the vehicles don’t have license plates.
For this reason, undercover agents are looking for thieves who disguise themselves as food delivery workers, and according to a scheme busted by police, after stealing a cell phone, they unlock it to make fraudulent transactions and then ship it to Colombia for sale. sends. .
New York City police said in a case earlier this month that several migrants were arrested in connection with a pattern of cell phone thefts in recent months. Dozens of people have become victims of this robbery.
Surveillance video showed the alleged thieves stealing, and many of their victims were women walking alone who targeted them for their cell phones, wallets and shopping bags.
Investigators added that some of the stolen phones have been tracked to other cities in the United States, such as Miami and Houston, while others have reached Colombia, where they are cleaned so they can be reused.
“The person driving the motorcycle is paid $100 a day and gets between $300 for each phone they steal. The phones are then taken to an apartment where a technician checks them and checks the victims’ bank accounts and credit. attempts to crack passwords to steal money from cards,” said NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Communications Carlos Nieves.
An uncovered operation to seize ghost motorcycles
In an operation, several scooters were seized, which did not have license plates and the motorcyclists did not have registration.
So far in 2024, the city has had 32 active investigations into this series of attacks using scooters.
Official figures show that more than 14,000 motorcycles were seized in 2023, and that double the number to be seized in 2022. It looks like the record may be broken this year, with nearly 3,000 so far.
Top NYPD officials say some wheeler-dealing thieves live in migrant shelters. Many of these scooters are built around hotels serving as shelters.
Meanwhile, the controversy over enforcing stricter laws on the registration of these vehicles has extended to the municipal council.
