People have been climbing into New York City’s sewer system searching for valuables washed into drains, and one of the best-known cases ended with an ICE arrest after a man emerged from a manhole near the United Nations.
NEW YORK CITY — New York’s latest underground mystery has an answer, and it may be stranger than the mystery itself.
People have been climbing into the city’s sewer and storm-drain system looking for gold, jewelry and other valuables they believe were washed beneath the streets, according to police accounts and recent court cases.
The scavengers have been nicknamed “mole people” after repeated sightings of groups entering and emerging from manholes across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.
Men Told Police They Were Searching for Valuables
One of the highest-profile incidents happened near Park Avenue and East 61st Street during the United Nations General Assembly.
Samuel Reveron Ascanio and Kevin Rodriguez were arrested after allegedly emerging from a manhole in the area.
According to investigators, the men said they had gone underground looking for valuables that wash into storm drains and sewers.
The location initially raised security concerns because of the heavy police presence surrounding the nearby United Nations, but authorities did not establish a terrorism connection.
‘Mole People’ Sightings Have Been Happening for Months
The phenomenon did not begin with Ascanio.
Groups of people have been filmed entering sewers in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan for months, sometimes wearing waders and carrying flashlights.
The sightings sparked theories ranging from urban exploration to theft to social media stunts.
The valuables explanation gained credibility after suspects in the Manhattan case allegedly told police that treasure hunting was exactly what they were doing.
Sewer Treasure Hunting Is Not New
The idea of finding money or jewelry beneath New York is not entirely new.
Lost valuables have historically ended up in sewer and drainage systems, particularly after storms wash items from streets and sidewalks into catch basins.
That does not mean the tunnels are filled with easy money.
Urban explorers have said valuable discoveries are rare, while city officials warn that the risks are very real.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection has warned that entering sewers is illegal and dangerous because of toxic gases, unstable surfaces, confined spaces and sudden flooding.
ICE Later Arrested Ascanio
Ascanio’s case took another turn after his city arrest.
After he was released following his arraignment on the sewer trespassing case, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took him into federal custody.
Federal immigration authorities identified Ascanio as a Venezuelan national and said he was subject to immigration enforcement.
That transformed an already unusual weird news story into a collision of sewer treasure hunting, city policing and federal immigration enforcement.
Mystery Partly Solved, But Sightings Continue
The arrests have provided at least one confirmed explanation for why some people have been disappearing beneath New York streets.
They are looking for treasure.
Whether all of the city’s recent sewer explorers have the same motive remains unclear.
But after months of grainy videos showing people lifting manhole covers and disappearing underground, New Yorkers finally have an answer for at least some of the city’s so-called mole people.