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Seven individuals have been charged with finishing up a 2022 jewellery heist that officers say was the “largest” in American historical past.
The theft passed off in California in July 2022 when a Brinks truck shifting a considerable amount of jewellery from a commerce present stopped at a relaxation cease, the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Central District of California mentioned.
Gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and luxurious watches valued at roughly $100 million have been taken, in line with the legal professional’s workplace.
Roughly three years later, seven suspects have been indicted.
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The U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Central District of California mentioned these concerned within the caper have been hit with two counts of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and overseas shipments and theft from interstate and overseas shipments.
Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado, Jazael Padilla Resto, Pablo Raul Lugo Larroig, Victor Hugo Valencia Solorzano, Jorge Enrique Alban, Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores and Eduardo Macias Ibarra are the named defendants. Their ages vary from 31 to 60.
Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, Valencia and Alban are “charged with two counts of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act), as well as additional counts of theft from interstate and foreign shipment,” the legal professional’s workplace mentioned.
The heist on the Brinks truck passed off in July 2022.
The defendants shadowed the truck for roughly 300 miles because it traveled from an “international jewelry show” in San Mateo, the indictment claimed.
The indictment accused Mestanza, Lugo and Alban of scouting out the truck departing the present the night of June 11, 2022.
An individual holds a gold ring from a jewellery field. (iStock / iStock)
The legal professional’s workplace claimed among the defendants additionally dedicated different thefts within the months main as much as the jewellery theft.
In March of that yr, Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo and Valencia “are also alleged to have stole $240,573 worth of Samsung electronics” from a cargo cargo in Ontario, California, and so they and Alban additionally took Apple AirTags valued at $57,377 from one other truck, in line with the legal professional’s workplace.
They took $14,081 in Samsung electronics from a cargo in Fontana, California, in late Could of that yr, the legal professional’s workplace additionally alleges.
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“An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime,” the legal professional’s workplace’s press launch famous. “Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.”
Akil Davis, the assistant director in control of the FBI’s Los Angeles subject workplace, mentioned in an announcement posted on X that the investigation “took years of seamless collaboration by the Bureau and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”
FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., July 3, 2023. (Getty Photos / Getty Photos)
“I’m gratified that we can finally begin to give answers to the victims of this massive theft and deliver them a measure of justice by holding these defendants accountable,” Davis added.
The Fontana Police Division and Ontario Police Division have been additionally concerned within the investigation, in line with the press launch from the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Central District of California.
Authorities finishing up search warrants earlier within the week seized among the jewellery, the legal professional’s workplace mentioned.
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Jewellery corporations within the U.S. had losses totaling $142.5 million because of crimes final yr, in line with the Jewelers Safety Alliance, a 7% leap from 2023, when it was $133.2 million.
