Placement of noun + と in this sentence

Question

お前が扱ってるヤマと同一手口の強盗が発生した行ってこい

(Taken from a line said by a character)

How come ヤマと is placed after 扱ってる? Would it change the meaning of the sentence if it had been written as

お前がヤマと扱ってる同一手口の強盗が発生した行ってこい

instead?

Answer 1

You could parse the sentence like this:

［（お前が[扱]{あつか}ってる）ヤマと[同一]{どういつ}[手口]{てぐち}の］[強盗]{ごうとう}が[発生]{はっせい}した。行ってこい。

お前が扱ってる is a relative clause that modifies ヤマ.
と connects to 同一. 「～と同一」 means "the same as~~" "identical to~~".

"There has been a robbery [using the same technique as the case (that you're dealing with)]."

You can rephrase the sentence as お前が扱ってるヤマと同じ手口の強盗が発生した.

「お前がヤマと扱ってる同一手口の強盗が発生した」 would make no sense.