Crowds of amateur scavengers have been filmed surfacing from New York manholes this summer in a puzzling craze to find gold and jewellery, police claimed.
A trio of ‘mole people’ have been gilmed climbing out of New York City’s sewers in baffling new trend. Three men dressed in overalls and headlamps were seen pulling themselves out of a manhole in Manhattan at 4am on August 18 near Madison Square Garden.
The bizarre footage is the latest in a spate of ‘mole people’ sightings this summer. It remains unknown whether these incidents are connected. The New York Police Department (NYPD) stated it is aware of the incident and is “actively investigating” the case.
Cops investigated similar incidents of mole people lurking in New York’s sewers in Queens and Williamsburg. Scavengers are allegedly spending hours below ground carrying shovels or other tools.
Bands of people were filmed emerging from sewers across Brooklyn in May mysteriously spotted exiting New York’s manholes.
It appears the people are diving into the city’s sewer system to scavenge for valuables that could have fallen through a grate and made its way into the sewage, police said.
A spokesperson for the city’s Environmental Protection Department said none of the infrastructure had been damaged and no arrests have yet been made in an ongoing investigation.
Authorities urged people seeking hidden treasure to stay out of the sewers. They warned that sneaking into manholes was “both illegal and extremely dangerous.”
In 2015, three people were arrested for trespassing after scavenging through sewers for “gold, jewellery and valuables” in a Brooklyn manhole but emerged empty-handed.
Part-time city Department of Environmental Protection employee Marquis Evans took two men Damien Nieves and David Hannibal into a Brooklyn manhole. The trio faced criminal charges for trespassing following the incident.
The American public’s has a long-standing fascination with exploring New York’s sewer system. New York Times articles from the 1800s reported criminals retrieved jewels from the underground with criminals discarding drugs and other contraband into drains.
Officials said there are major hazards to wannabe mole people wanting to rummage for precious valuables.
They said there are risks of noxious and potentially deadly gases, unstable surfaces, flooding risks, and confined spaces and members of the public should never never enter a pipe, drain, catch basin, manhole, or outfall.”