Two men have been arrested in connection to 25 cases linked to Romanian organized crime, which the city of San Jose has seen a significant spike in since the summer.
The criminal cases tied to Mogos Constantin, 35, and Renaldo Vaduva, 19, were reported from July to October, and include armed carjacking, armed robbery, strong arm robbery, and grand theft, police said. Both suspects were arrested after police served search warrants in San Jose and Livermore.
Police during the search found evidence tied crimes Constantin and Vaduva are accused of and $13,000 in cash. Officers also seized three vehicles, and discovered evidence linked to crimes of jewelry swap scams and robberies, Facebook Marketplace vehicle scams, credit card skimmers, and money laundering.
Both Constantin and Vaduva were arraigned on Thursday.
Romanian organized crime is on the rise in San Jose, according to police, who said suspects tend to target elderly residents of the Asian and Indian community. Women involved in the crimes tend to dress in traditional clothing, according to police, which is usually described as Middle Eastern or Indian style clothing.
There have been at least three recent cases involving women in long dresses using a distraction tactic to steal from victims
In August, a San Jose tailor shop was hit by women in long dresses who used a distraction tactic to steal a family vault with items worth up to $150,000, police said.
Other recent cases involving women using a distraction strategy include an elderly couple robbed of their safe during a home invasion and a family burglarized of over $100,000 worth of jewelry.
"I'm very grateful and glad they were able to find suspects and make arrests, even though they're not related to our case directly," said Josh Benjach, grandson of the San Jose elderly couple who recently had their family safe taken by a crew of criminals.
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Police said Constantin and Vaduva do not appear to be involved in that case, but are linked to many other similar crimes.
One of the victims in the case where a family was burglarized of $100,000 worth of jewelry told NBC Bay Area on Friday one of the suspects arrested looked familiar.
"The belief I have is these guys aren't going to do this anymore," he said. "The cops are already on them. SJPD has done a wonderful job getting these people."
The San Jose Police Department robbery unit and financial crimes unit are investigating the crimes.
Police are now asking people to dial 911 the minute they suspect suspicious activity that sounds similar to the crimes. Police also tell residents to exercise good judgement when someone comes to your home and to never let anyone inside unless they can prove they are with an agency you were expecting, like plumbers, electricians, and nurses.
