A criminal gang that was committing robberies throughout California has been uncovered in South America.

FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — The FBI says it has now uncovered a South American crime ring that carried out heists worth more than a million dollars over several months.

Some of the places the team is accused of attacking are in the Central Valley.

Federal court documents released last week show the crime ring is targeting banks and ATMs in California, Oregon, Washington and Texas.

The 78-page affidavit describes how investigators put the pieces together and includes photos showing how investigators say they committed the crimes.

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It said the group, known as the “South American Gang of Thieves,” with members from Chile, Venezuela and Peru, used a combination of underground car rentals, AirBNBs, power tools and dark-colored spray paint.

The affidavits identified the following members: Alex Moyano, Maite Celis, Eric Osorio, Pablo Valdez, Rosa Bastias, Camilo Sepulveda, Bassil DaCosta, Camilo Alarcon and Michel Parada.

The FBI says it only became aware of SATC in June, when its team attempted to hack an ATM in Merced.

But later a pattern was discovered linking this with other cases:

• Forced entry.
• Use of Covid style masks and construction vests.
• And the use of equipment, including signal jammers and blowtorches.

It says SATC-related robberies and attempts in the Fresno area include:

• May 5. Wells Fargo ATM in northwest Fresno where more than $80,000 was stolen.
• June 21 – EECU ATM Kiosk in Clovis. Clovis police say between $150,000 and $200,000 were stolen from each of the two vehicles at the site.
• July 10. An ATM was attacked in northwest Fresno. As soon as security arrived, the crew threw down crowbars and blowtorches.
• Sept. 15 – Valley First Credit Union in North Fresno. Crew members were caught on camera searching the area the day before, the FBI said. Although they were unable to break into that car, the team moved to Fresno State’s campus, where EECU estimates the team stole at least $20,000.

The woman, identified as Maite Celis, rented Air BNBs in Bakersfield, Tulare, Turlock and near the California-Oregon border, according to the affidavit.

Some of the homes had surveillance cameras that later showed crew members moving around in large containers and bags that the FBI said matched those used in the robberies.

The FBI added that the team rented SUVs from a club promoter in Southern California – one of them turned out to be stolen.

But he had an Apple Air Tag, which helped place crews at crime scenes.

Often, crew members would disperse, with some distracting the workers while others took up space for the cameras, only to later paint them black to avoid detection.

An informant told investigators that the ringleader was Alex Moyano Morales, who went by several aliases, including “Gordito.”

So far, he has managed to avoid arrest – there is already a warrant for his arrest in Glendale.

But they say he didn’t shy away from the attention and posted a photo on social media holding a wad of cash.