Investigations into car thefts at multiple U.S. airports has revealed a criminal ring that would take cars from the states and bring them to Mexico, according to reports.
Here’s what we know so far.
Police in Phoenix, Nev., apprehended Yoel Hernandez-Frometa and Jose Antonio Perez-Rodriguez on allegations of attempting to steal a Corvette, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. By July, Hernandez-Frometa was in Utah.
That’s when dispatchers saw three men looking into cars in the economy parking lot of Salt Lake City International Airport. They alerted the Salt Lake City Police Department, kicking off an investigation.
Officers eventually caught up with the men and attempted a traffic stop, but the driver took off. Then came a car chase and, when the suspects jumped out of the car, a chase on foot.
“Airport officers requested additional help from patrol officers assigned to the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Pioneer Patrol Division and Salt Lake City Police Department’s K9 Squad,” said a press release. Authorities were able to apprehend the men – including one who had injured his leg while attempting to jump a fence – and take them into custody.
Police identified the suspects as then 30-year-old Jose Alejandro Pavon-Estopian, then 37-year-old Hernandez Fromata and then 29-year-old Vainer Pinollotoro. They were held at the Salt Lake County Metro Jail and were all charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, fleeing in a vehicle, failing to stop at the command of police, and possession of burglary tools.
In addition to arresting the suspects, investigators discovered a backpack filled with blank car key fobs that belonged to one of them, as well as key cards for a local motel. Law enforcement, including detectives and the Salt Lake City SWAT team, then conducted a search of the motel room and discovered a laptop, other hardware used to communicate electronic signals, and a device used to program key fobs inside the stolen car the suspects bailed from – all evidence of a stolen car operation.
None of the men arrested there had any ties to Salt Lake City, said the police. This week, NBC DFW reported that the group’s leader had been arrested in Texas.
“In the search warrant, investigators said they’ve arrested three suspects, including the leader of the ring, writing, ‘Yoel Hernandez-Frometa uses Autel devices to reprogram key fobs so he can steal vehicles,’” said the report. It also said Hernandez-Frometa helped investigators unravel the conspiracy since he was caught.
Per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, court documents refer to the group as a “Cuban auto theft group” that is based in Houston, Texas. Thefts of a red Audi and two Cadillacs on Sept. 29 kicked off an investigation in the Dallas area. Pinollotoro and Perez-Rodriguez were in the red Audi with Hernandez-Formeta when police conducted a traffic stop.
“All three men face charges of engaging in organized crime, theft of property greater or equal to $300,000, and unlawful use or possession of criminal instruments with the intent to commit theft, according to Tarrant County Jail records,” said the Star-Telegram.
According to NBC DFW, the theft ring stole 52 cars totaling nearly $5 million from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport alone. Around a year ago, the outlet began reporting on an increase in vehicle thefts at the airport and authorities said they believed that a crime ring was involved.
“On Wednesday, NBC 5 received confirmation: A search warrant filed in Tarrant County showed that the DFW Airport Police had identified a nationwide crime group stealing vehicles from the airport,” said the local NBC station.
So far, at least 14 suspects have been apprehended. Investigators believe that they have been stealing cars from the DFW airport since early 2023 and that the operation extended to New Mexico and Nevada in addition to Utah. Court documents indicate that the thieves change Vehicle Identification Numbers, illegally retitle the cars, and then sell them, and often take them across the border to Mexico.
“What we have seen is that the crime is getting more and more sophisticated as technology progresses,” Tarleton State criminologist Alex Del Carmen told NBC DFW in September.
Hernandez-Frometa has an extensive arrest history and has been linked to the crimes via surveillance footage, the Star-Telegram explained.
In a new statement shared with NBC DFW this week, leaders of DFW airport said: “Investigators with the DFW Airport Department of Public Safety remain in close contact with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to identify and disrupt organized crime rings targeting airport parking facilities throughout the country. Due to the work of DFW Airport Police, the airport has seen a more than 40% reduction in car thefts from the terminal areas so far this year compared with 2023.”