The Polk County Sheriff's Office arrested four suspects tied to a South American theft group behind nine burglaries across six Florida counties, according to a news release. The 17-month-long investigation revealed that the group stole nearly $1.7 million in property, targeting the homes of small business owners, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a press conference Thursday afternoon. Geraldine Galeano-Perez, 33, Milton Ayala-Sierra, 25, Jason Alexander Higuera-Ruiz, 41 and Geiler Orobio-Cabezas, 36, are all facing numerous charges in Polk County, including racketeering, burglary and grand theft. Higuera-Ruiz was reportedly able to bail out of jail with GPS monitoring but cut the device off and is now at large. His whereabouts are currently unknown and his bond is now set at $5.6 million, according to the sheriff's office. Galeano-Perez, who has prior criminal history in Colombia and New York City, is currently booked in the Polk County Jail while Orobio-Cabezas is booked at Pinellas County Jail, according to the sheriff's office. Ayala-Sierra was reportedly deported to Colombia. The sheriff's office said one of the burglaries occurred in Polk County while four other burglaries occurred in Hillsborough County. Four others occurred across four different counties. The group reportedly stole jewelry, watches, designer purses and bags, and cash. MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/crime/south-american-theft-group-burglarized-homes-florida-polk-county/67-5570705e-eabb-428f-b662-d34fac760596 ►Subscribe: https://on.wtsp.com/youtube ►Website: https://www.wtsp.com/ ►Facebook: https://facebook.com/10TampaBay ►X: https://twitter.com/10TampaBay