Criminal gang terrorising Indian, Asian diamond retailers in 4 US states caught.

Authorities in four East Coast states said they detained and prosecuted 16 members of a group that terrorised Indian and other Asian jewellers over the course of a year.

They "took part in take-over style armed robberies meant to terrify and overwhelm store owners and employees," according to FBI Special Agent James Dennehy of the Newark field office, who made the statement on Wednesday.

Assistant Director of the FBI David Sundberg estimated the value of the stolen goods to be in the hundreds of thousands. Trevor Wright, one of the accused robbers, went by the moniker "Taliban Glizzy" and is accused of being involved in four separate robberies as well as money laundering.

The nine jewellery stores included on the indictment submitted to a federal court in Washington, D.C., were located everywhere from the northeastern New York City neighbourhood of Jersey City, New Jersey, to the southeasterly Florida.

The stores were labelled as "South Asian" in the court filing, and at least four were positively recognised as being owned by Indians.

According to the evidence presented in court, the armed robbers targeted South Asian jewellers between January of last year and January of this year.

The group reportedly used stolen or carjacked automobiles in the commission of the crimes.

Even though they specifically targeted South Asians, gang members only faced a total of 19 counts, none of which included bigotry or hatred towards a particular group of people. Gangs around the United States routinely rob Indian and other Asian houses because they believe the residents keep excessive quantities of cash and valuables in their homes.