THIS is the shocking moment sneaky jewel thieves distract a driver at a petrol station and steal £2 million from his car boot.
An organised crime group targeted the jewellery salesman as he was travelling from Sussex to Kent last year.
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Three of the group have now been jailed after they followed the man to a petrol station in Wrotham, Kent, before puncturing one of his tyres in January 2024.
The victim had been working in Brighton selling jewellery to several businesses and was carrying precious items worth around £2.25 million.
The CCTV footage shows the moment the thieves start following the salesman in Brighton.
He was tracked by Edgar Ardila-Ruiz, Monica Diaz and Edward Florez-Ortiz and closely tailed his vehicle back to Kent.
When the man stopped at a petrol station in Wrotham, Florez-Ortiz punctured one of his tyres.
The man drove away but was forced to turn back and headed to an air pressure machine after noticing his tyre was flat.
While at the machine, the footage shows Monica Diaz distract the salesman by attempting to engage him in conversation.
Meanwhile, Ardila-Ruiz can be seen at the rear of the car and snatching a bag of jewellery from the boot.
The CCTV footage recovered from the garage showed the suspects fleeing in a silver Toyota Corolla.
All three thieves were part of a gang responsible for other offences across the country including areas in London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire.
Ruiz and Diaz were later arrested on February 11 after attempting to steal from another travelling salesman near Bolton, Lancashire.
The victim had alerted police after he noticed a black BMW was following him.
Local officers ran checks showing Ruiz was wanted for the theft in Wrotham while Diaz was also recognised from the petrol station CCTV.
They both pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court after they were charged with conspiracy to steal, and theft from a motor vehicle.
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Ruiz and Diaz, both of no fixed address, were sentenced to three years and six months in prison.
Florez-Ortiz, from Islington, London, was identified as a third suspect and separately convicted at Chelmsford Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to theft and criminal damage.
He was jailed for six years and will undergo future extradition proceedings after he was sentenced to three years for another jewellery theft in Belgium in 2021.
All three will also now be the subject of a financial investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act to claw back any criminal gains they may have made.
Detective Constable Leo Graham said: “Our investigation uncovered a wealth of evidence showing how all three offenders initially followed the victim on foot, before tailing his car.
“They waited patiently for the perfect opportunity to prey upon him and a later examination of his car led to the recovery of a metal item which had been inserted into the tyre by Florez-Ortiz.
“Ardila-Ruiz and Diaz were thankfully caught just weeks later, after following another salesman hundreds of miles away from Kent.
“These sentences are welcome, as it is clear they were part of a bigger network of organised criminality targeting victims throughout the country.”
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