EL PASO, Texas — Federal prosecutors in El Paso, Texas, have charged 13 people with moving stolen vehicles from across the Southwest into Mexico, where investigators say the cars and trucks ended up serving drug cartels.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations, joined by several other federal, state and local agencies, laid out the case Monday at a news conference in El Paso. The probe, called Operation Southbound Takedown, started in the spring after agents spotted a steady flow of stolen private cars and rental vehicles heading to criminal groups south of the border.
According to the charges, thieves took vehicles from individual drivers and from rental fleets in several southwestern states, brought them to El Paso and handed them off across the line. So far, agents have pulled back 29 vehicles worth roughly $1.1 million.
Each of the 13 is accused of interstate transportation of stolen property, a federal count that carries up to 10 years in prison. Kimberly Aguilar and Marty Gerardo Jr. are already held in state custody.
Eleven more were picked up between July 22 and Oct. 19. That group includes Amy Foote, Angel Antonio Flores and Pablo Frias, along with Cesar David Diaz and James Dewey Garrett. Also charged are Sinuhe Baltizar Lopez, Aaron Fernando Luna-Evans and Pilar Bernabeth Mendez Rivas, plus David Monarrez, Hilario Abraham Morales and Christopher Rene Reyes.
Frias and Mendez Rivas are Mexican citizens. Ryan G. McRae, who leads HSI in El Paso, said the investigation is still open. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case. The charges are allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Section: More El Paso TX crime news
Filed under: El Paso TX Crime News
