The Florida Attorney General's Office has revealed it has dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to vehicle theft, arresting five members, while a sixth individual remains at large.
According to Attorney General James Uthmeier during a press conference in Tampa on Thursday, the defendants are non-citizen aliens who participated in a plot that began in June 2022 to steal more than 80 vehicles along Florida's west coast.
The detainees of Cuban nationality, as confirmed by CiberCuba, are named Héctor Rafael González Tamayo, Yainier Pinillo Toro, Yoan Oriol González Solórzano, María Beatriz Rodríguez La Rosa and Felipe Benítez Alonso. Authorities continue searching for Inti Gómez Alonso.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Commissioner Mark Glass announced that the gang began operating more than two years ago in the Fort Myers area before expanding to Tampa and several locations in Florida.
The gang members stole 81 vehicles—primarily luxury SUVs such as the Cadillac Escalade and Rolls-Royce—stealing vehicle identification numbers (VINs) and creating fake titles and license plates. They then sold or traded them in for cash amounts ranging from $5.000 to $15.000, with the most expensive vehicles reaching as much as $25.000, according to the police investigation.
For their crimes, they used various techniques such as renting cars at airports, duplicating keys before their return, and attaching Apple Airtags or Samsung Smartags to monitor their whereabouts and subsequently steal them.
They also took vehicles from rental services or local dealerships, or even sought out cars after someone had rented them, employing comparable tactics to monitor and execute the theft.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, each defendant is charged with one count of racketeering and one count of conspiracy to engage in racketeering, classified as first-degree felonies, carrying a possible sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
The investigation is being led by the Office of Special Prosecutors, under the direction of Attorney General Uthmeier. Along with FDLE and the State Attorney's Office, officers from the Tampa International Airport Police Department, the Florida Highway Patrol, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) have joined forces to dismantle the network.
