Florida Authorities 23 suspects arrested, including three from the Miami areain an organized crime investigation that made it possible to dismantle a network dedicated to the sale of high-end stolen vehicles or acquired through fraud.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and other state agencies announced Monday the results of the Operation Gone in 60 Dayswho for five years investigated a gang that profited from the theft and sale of luxury cars, brands like Porsche, Land Rover and Maserati.
One of the suspects worked at a Miami-based dealership, FDLE said in a Press conference conducted in Tampa, although the business in question was not identified or which of the defendants was employed there.
Those arrested include Mariangel Lizardo-Peraza29 years old and resident of Miami Gardens, Jorge Manuel González-Aris33, and Roberto Marrero-Cisneros, 66, both from Miami. The other 20 defendants reside in Tampa, mainly.
Lizardo-Peraza and Marrero-Cisneros face racketeering charges, while González-Aris was charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, possession of certified title with intent to defraud and driving while suspended.
In addition to the 23 detainees, there are two fugitives with active arrest warrants and officers filed two additional arrest affidavits with the court, totaling 27 suspects.
The operation began in July 2018 when agents began investigating allegations of illegally issued Florida commercial driver’s licenses, FDLE revealed in a Press release.
“Investigators uncovered a criminal organization issuing fraudulent Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) to high-end cars that were obtained through fraud or theft, selling the vehicles below market value, fraudulently assigning labels, defrauding customers through the alleged issuance of auto insurance and other crimes,” FDLE said.
The statement indicates that “the suspects illegally acquired the vehicles using couriers, false names and fraudulent payments to ‘purchase’ them from dealers who did not discover the fraud until after the vehicles had disappeared from the lot.”
Likewise, in “another vehicle acquisition scheme”, the defendants kept rental cars and filed false police reports alleging that they had been stolen.
Authorities discovered during the investigation process that the ringleader was generating fake VINs to attach to vehicles to further conceal the robberies.
Because the vehicles were obtained illegally and lacked legitimate documentation that could be used to register them, the suspect working at the Miami dealership “would issue temporary plates from there or transfer a registration from a legitimate vehicle to a fraudulent vehicle,” FDLE said. .
In addition, the gang members also tried to sell car insurance to customers who bought the stolen vehicleswhich often resulted in people receiving an initial policy that expired quickly, as the defendants kept the actual payments provided.
Florida Attorney General, Ashley Moodystated at the press conference: “Organized theft has no place in Florida, and I appreciate the collaborative efforts of our law enforcement partners and my state attorneys to take down this massive auto theft ring. These delinquents They thought they could evade the law, and now they will answer for their crimes.”
The researchers said that $1.1 million returned to victims.
