TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – A multi-million-dollar vehicle theft ring has led to eight people arrests, according to the US law firm for the Central District of Florida.
Federal prosecutors have announced that three of these individuals have been charged by a large ju trial for allegedly stealing high-end vehicles across the state, including Tampa Bay.
Ten law enforcement agencies have worked together to discover the ring, and investigators believe there will be more members of the auto-theft ring.
US lawyer Roger Handberg said the man is a car burglar with a taste of targets. In 11 months, they allegedly stole at least 91 expensive vehicles they knew were in demand, investigators said.
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According to the indictment, between June 2020 and May 2021, three men allegedly stole at least 91 high-end cars across Florida with the intent to sell at least 91 high-end cars.
“The stolen vehicle was worth about $4 million,” Handberg said.
Handberg said Michael Serrano, 34, of Lehiacre, used a trucking company to transport the stolen car to California. Julio Sanchez, 35, of Redwood City, California, uses his business to sell cars, while Angel Marless, 56, of California, will keep the stolen car.
Hamburg said it’s the enormous size of the state-wide victims that set the auto-theft ring apart from others.
“Citrus, Hernando, Hillsboro, Lee, Manatee, Miami, Dade, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk Counties,” Handberg listed.
Court documents reveal that the car was stolen: dealers, homes, parking lots, businesses. Handberg said it will target luxury brands like Porsche and high-end road pickups from Toyota, Chrysler and Ford.
They found a way to take the vehicle anytime.
“Members of the automatic theft ring magnetically mounted electronic tracking devices on vehicles intended to steal so that they could track their vehicles where they were located,” he said.
It is said that men use electronic key FOB encoder to program blank key FOBs to launch the car. They were accused of changing Vin and transporting it to California.
“Sixty-five people have been retrieved,” Handberg said. “This is an incredible result, and it’s due to the dedicated work of a large team of investigators.”
Handberg said this was just the beginning. State and federal investigators and prosecutors will not rest until all members of this automatic theft ring are held liable.
Handberg also said the burglars used the technology and detectives used science by testing blood and DNA samples from evidence found in the stolen vehicle.
