A gang of jewel thieves who followed a gem salesman to a petrol station to steal his stock of diamond rings worth more than £2m out of his boot have been jailed.Edgar Ardila-Ruiz, 38, Monica Diaz, 45, and Edward Florez-Ortiz, 38, pursued the man for 57 miles from Brighton, East Sussex into Kent before he stopped for fuel.The victim had been working in Brighton on January 18 last year selling jewellery to several businesses and had been carrying the rings, which had a combined retail value of around £2.25million.When he had finished his rounds in Brighton the gang members closely tailed his vehicle as it headed back to Kent.When the salesman later stopped at a petrol garage in Wrotham, Kent, Florez-Ortiz interfered with the car causing a flat tyre.The victim went to drive away but was forced to return and headed to an air pressure machine.At that point, Diaz suddenly appeared and attempted to engage him in conversation.As the victim was distracted, Ardila-Ruiz was able to access the vehicle's boot and snatch a bag containing the jewellery. The gang stolen £2.25 million in diamond rings at a petrol station from their victim after distracting him Monica Diaz, 45, distracted the victim to allow her co-conspirators to complete the theftPolice recovered CCTV footage from the garage which showed the suspects fleeing in a silver Toyota Corolla.Ruiz and Diaz were arrested on February 11, following an attempt to steal from another travelling salesman, this time near Bolton in Lancashire.The victim called 999 after noticing a black BMW following him.Checks by local officers there showed Ardila-Ruiz circulated as wanted for the Wrotham theft.Diaz also matched an image from the petrol garage CCTV.They were transferred into Kent Police custody and later charged with conspiracy to steal, and theft from a motor vehicle.Ardila-Ruiz, 38, and Diaz, 45, both of no fixed address, both pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court.Florez Ortiz, 38, from Islington, London was identified as a third suspect and was separately convicted at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court, after pleading guilty to theft and criminal damage. Edgar Ardila-Ruiz, 38, took the diamond rings out of the salesman's boot while he was distracted Edward Florez-Ortiz, 38, was one of the gang who pursued the man for 57 miles from Brighton , East Sussex into Kent before he stopped for fuel Police say all three were part of a larger gang responsible for similar offences across other parts of the country, in areas including London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire One of the gang members deflated one of the victim's tyres so he would be forced to return to the petrol station Over three days on September 18, 19 and 22 a total of seven offenders were sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court following investigations by multiple police forces into the gangHe also admitted unrelated offences linked to the theft of cash and jewellery from a woman in Colchester.Police say all three were part of a larger gang responsible for similar offences across other parts of the country, in areas including London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire.Over three days on September 18, 19 and 22 a total of seven offenders were sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court following investigations by multiple police forces.Florez-Ortiz was sentenced to six years' imprisonment.He will also be subject to future extradition proceedings in connection with offences in Belgium in February 2021, where he was sentenced in his absence to more than three years for another jewellery theft.Ardila-Ruiz and Diaz were both jailed for three years and six months.None of the diamond rings from the Kent theft have been recovered.Detective Constable Leo Graham of Kent Police, who led the investigation, said: 'Our investigation uncovered a wealth of evidence showing how all three offenders initially followed the victim on foot, before tailing his car.'They waited patiently for the perfect opportunity to prey upon him and a later examination of his car led to the recovery of a metal item which had been inserted into the tyre by Florez-Ortiz.'Ardila-Ruiz and Diaz were thankfully caught just weeks later, after following another salesman hundreds of miles away from Kent.'These sentences are welcome, as it is clear they were part of a bigger network of organised criminality targeting victims throughout the country.'The offenders will now be the subject of a financial investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act, which aims to claw back any criminal gains they may have made.