Two men were busted as part of a moped-riding migrant crew that have been snatching cellphones right out of New Yorkers hands in daring bursts of street crime — and police sources say they’ve already flipped on the ringleader.
The two suspects — Cleyber Andrade, 19, and Juan Uzcatgui, 23 — are allegedly part of a wider ring whose members are connected to 62 different instances of grand larceny throughout the Big Apple, police sources told The Post.
But cops are still searching for the main man, a migrant named Victor Parra who was cut loose by a judge in December after getting picked up for grand larceny, sources said.
At a Monday press conference, NYPD Inspector Nicholas Fiore said Parra has convinced others to “go do his dirty work to grab phones and stuff.”
“He’s the big target,” Fiore said in a video posted to X. “He’s caused a lot of problems in New York City. And hopefully we’ll grab him, we get some headway on this.”
Authorities hope to pick him the mastermind today — Andrade and Uzcatgui already flipped and gave him up, sources said.
Cops have also named six other people connected to the ring: Yan Jimenez, 25, of Manhattan; Anthony Ramos, 21, of Manhattan; Richard Saledo, 21, of the Bronx; Beike Jimenez, 21, of the Bronx; Maria Manaura, 32, of Manhattan; and Samuel Castro, 27, of Queens, according to sources.
All have previous grand larceny arrests for criminal activity sources say is related to the conspiracy. But they’re all free without bail ahead of their impending court dates, sources said.
The robbery ring — and others like it — worry law enforcement specifically because the migrants often have multiple aliases and swap identities and birthdays, turning them into so-called “ghost perps” who become very hard to track, sources said.
Andrade and Uzcatgui, who apparently know each other from Colombia, were also arrested on Friday for allegedly committing back-to-back phone snatches on a stolen moped in Lower Manhattan.
Police sources say the two fled from Manhattan over the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, but law enforcement spotted them on the BQE and arrested them afterward in Queens.
During the pursuit, the two dumped a bag that a good Samaritan later turned in at the 114th Precinct. Sources say it had three cellphones in it: two belonging to their victims, and one belonging to one of the suspects.
At some point after the arrest, the two gave up information that helped secure Monday’s warrant, which was ostensibly meant to snag Parra.
Both men were charged individually Saturday with grand larceny for stealing a moped, resisting arrest and stolen property offenses.
During the off-topic portion of his Monday press conference, Mayor Adams commended the NYPD on its officers’ “speedy action” in apprehending the two.
“I take my hat off to the detectives who are involved in bringing this case to closure,” he said.
Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy
