Two people have been arrested for allegedly emerging from manholes across New York City.

Police reportedly suspect them of searching for valuables that had been washed into the storm drains and sewer system.

Kevin Rodriguez and Samuel Reveron, both 25, were arrested by New York City police on Friday and booked with counts of trespassing as well as conspiracy, the local news outlet WABC reported.

Court documents reviewed and reported by the outlet indicated that Rodriguez and Reveron were released without being required to post a bond because their charges were not eligible for a bail amount setting. According to court documents reviewed by WABC, Reveron got supervised release. WABC reported that Rodriguez was released on his own recognizance.

The New York Post reported that Reveron allegedly told police: “We go into the sewer and look for valuables that get stuck in the storm drains and sewers, gold, anything of value.

The arrests of Reveron and Rodriguez came after reports on Thursday that three people emerged from a manhole on Manhattan’s Upper East Side during the United Nations general assembly in New York City.

Three people were seen coming out from a sewer near Park Avenue and East 61st Street at about 4.35am on Wednesday before fleeing north on Park, according to WABC.

Officers responding to a 911 call about a possible crime learned of the situation after arriving near 535 Park Avenue. A New York City police surveillance camera captured the scene, according to the outlet, which cited officers.

A New York police spokesperson said the case met the “same criteria” as other recent ones involving “individuals going into the sewer system to look for valuables and other scrap metal after a storm”.

Police said they were “conducting additional security sweeps” with their federal partner “out of an abundance of caution given the UN general assembly and the sensitivity of the location”.

In late August, New York police said they were investigating a social media video of three people emerging from a manhole near Madison Square Garden.

That video came after a series of other reports of individuals – dubbed “mole people” by the hoi polloi – mysteriously emerging from manholes across Brooklyn and Queens.

Speaking to NBC New York in June, Aki Jakupovic, a witness, summarized the situation by remarking: “Three random guys walking around in a strange suit, open the sewer, go in like Ninja Turtles.”