Authorities now say six of the migrants accused of jumping a pair of police officers in Times Square took off for California — and the group involved in the assault is being eyed in a larger conspiracy in which the immigrants use Apple Pay on stolen phones to buy cars and pools, police sources said.
In addition, immigration warrants have now been issued for several of those who fled, a senior law enforcement source said.
The violent group is part of a larger conspiracy involving other new arrivals in the city.
The migrants first steal phones from victims and then use Apple Pay and credit cards to make large purchases back in their home countries, the sources said.
“They’re buying cars back in Ecuador and Venezuela,” the police source said. “They’re putting pools in their homes there. All this money is going back and forth. That’s why the larcenies are going out of control. It’s unbelievable what they’re doing.”
They believe the activities are organized and gang related, but aren’t sure which gangs or crews are involved at this point, the sources said.
The gang Tren de Aragua from Venezuela is one of those being eyed in the criminal activity, the sources confirmed. Former NYPD Chief of Intelligence John Miller first reported on the link on CNN Friday.
Police have an idea of where the men are, but can’t pick them up unless they miss their court dates since they were released without bail, the source said.
The fleeing migrants were thought to have gone to a faith-based charity, who provided their bus tickets to the Golden State, but authorities now believe taxpayer money was used instead.
Big Apple migrants are given a special identification known as a “G number” when they arrive and are placed in the shelter system “to track them throughout the shelter system,” a source said.
They can use the numbers to get tickets to travel anywhere else in the US.
Cops are probing whether the Times Square migrants stole “G numbers” from others and used them to obtain the tickets. NYPD officers realized they’d fled when investigators recognized their images.
In all, seven migrants have been arrested so far in the assault, and sources said six more are being sought.
Darwin Andres Gomez, 19, Kelvin Servita Arocha, 19, Wilson Juarez, 21, and Yorman Reveron, 24, were released without bail and fled via bus to California, authorities have said. Three more have also been nabbed: Jhoan Boada, 22, Jandry Barros, 21, and Yohenry Brito, 24.
Brito is being held at Rikers Island on $15,000 cash bail. Boada was released without bail.
Within the last 24 hours, US Customs and Border Patrol have issued warrants for Gomez; Arocha; Juarez; Reveron; and Boada, a source said.
The officers were attacked on 42nd Street near Seventh Avenue around 8:30 p.m. after they were called to the area because of a robbery at an Aldo store there. Migrants hang out outside the nearby Candler Building and are known to rob handbags from the shoe store, the store manager there told The Post.
