Thieves steal £2M worth of jewellery from boot of a car in Kent
They followed a man to a petrol station before puncturing one of his tyres
A gang of thieves targeted a jewellery salesman traveling from Sussex to Kent to steal stock worth more than two million pounds.
Three of the organised crime group have now been jailed after they followed the man to a petrol station in Wrotham before puncturing one of his car tyres.
On 18 January 2024, the victim had been working in Brighton selling jewellery to several businesses and carrying precious items with a retail value of around £2.25million.
His movements were tracked by Edgar Ardila-Ruiz, Monica Diaz and Edward Florez-Ortiz (Ortiz operated under the alias of Victor Chavez-Gutierrez) and when his business was concluded they closely tailed his vehicle as it headed back to Kent.
When the man later stopped at a petrol garage in London Road, Wrotham, Florez-Ortiz interfered with the car causing a flat tyre.
The victim went to drive away but was forced to return and headed to an air pressure machine.
Distraction
Diaz suddenly appeared and she attempted to engage him in conversation.
As the victim was distracted, Ardila-Ruiz was able to access the vehicle’s boot and snatch a bag containing the jewellery.
Attending patrols recovered CCTV from the garage which showed the suspects fleeing in a silver Toyota Corolla.
Ruiz and Diaz were arrested on 11 February, following an attempt to steal from another travelling salesman, this time near Bolton in Lancashire. The victim called 999 after noticing a black BMW following him.
Checks by local officers showed Ardila-Ruiz circulated as wanted for the Wrotham theft.
Diaz also matched an image from the petrol garage CCTV. They were transferred into Kent Police custody and later charged with conspiracy to steal, and theft from a motor vehicle.
Ardila-Ruiz, 38, and Diaz, 45, both of no fixed address, both pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court.
Florez-Ortiz, 38, from Islington, London was identified as a third suspect and was separately convicted at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court, after pleading guilty to theft and criminal damage.
He also admitted unrelated offences linked to the theft of cash and jewellery from a woman in Colchester.
Links to further crimes
All three were part of a larger gang responsible for similar offences across other parts of the country, in areas including Portobello Road, Hatton Garden and Kings Cross in London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire.
On 18 and 19 September 2025, a total of seven offenders were sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court following investigations by multiple police forces.
Florez-Ortiz was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He will also be subject to future extradition proceedings in connection with offences in Belgium in February 2021, where he was sentenced in his absence to more than three years for another jewellery theft.
Ardila-Ruiz and Diaz were both jailed for three years and six months.
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.’
Proceeds of Crime Act investigation
The offenders will now be the subject of a financial investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act, which aims to claw back any criminal gains they may have made.