10 months ago
27
TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - A bust that cracked unfastened a large agriculture theft ringing led by cartels was announced by 3 Central Valley sheriffs connected Tuesday. "Operation Tractor Pull" helped uncover a large-scale theft ringing utilizing the confederate borderline arsenic an expressway to transport stolen goods from the Central Valley to Mexico, officials say.
Sheriff Mike Boudreaux was joined by Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke and Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni for Tuesday's announcement.
Sheriff Boudreaux says the thefts began successful March 2024, erstwhile the Tulare County Sheriff's Office was told astir a backhoe theft adjacent Avenue 8 and Road 176 adjacent Delano. Five days later, investigators were told the stolen backhoe was seen astatine a motortruck halt successful Tulare, hidden successful the backmost of a semi-truck.
Boudreaux says investigators located the stolen machinery - and recovered on with it a 2nd backhoe and an excavator, reported missing retired of Kings County. The motortruck drivers told detectives they were hauling stolen cultivation instrumentality crossed the Central Valley and into Mexico.
In April 2024, detectives were warned by Stanislaus County to look retired for 2 much suspects related to the ongoing theft cognition of dense ag equipment. That alert helped escalate the probe and by June detectives were capable to found that dense ag instrumentality was being stolen and hauled up and down the Central Valley.
"There was a find of 2 loaders up successful Camp Nelson that led detectives into the country of Hollister. This improvement resulted successful the recognition of an further 2 suspects," said Sheriff Boudreaux.
"Now we're rapidly knowing that we person an cultivation theft ring."
An extended probe led detectives to the find of implicit $2.25 cardinal of stolen equipment. Sheriff Boudreaux says arsenic of Tuesday, astir $1.3 cardinal of the instrumentality has been recovered (24 pieces of stolen instrumentality recovered successful all).
"All of these findings suggest and person led america to, a precise blase web of thieves trafficking dense cultivation machinery arsenic an organized transgression activity, with implications acold beyond the Central Valley and into and crossed the borderline into Mexico," said Boudreaux.
Boudreaux adds that galore of the drivers were assisted successful circumventing information checks astatine the U.S.-Mexico border. Detectives are moving with Border Patrol and Homeland Security to code the issue.
Early Tuesday morning, Sheriff Boudreaux reported six abstracted hunt warrants were initiated successful Los Banos, Hollister, Riverdale, and Lindsay. Detectives recovered much stolen ag instrumentality arsenic good arsenic phones, surveillance cameras, a generator and $46,000 cash.
Also recovered connected Tuesday were 2 truckbed loads of marijuana, 2 handguns, 2 rifles, and 3 shotguns, Sheriff Boudreaux says.
According to the Sheriff's Office, the pursuing person been arrested:
- 22-year-old Juan Carlos Murrufo of Mexico
- 31-year-old Endi Jesus Lopez Bustillos of Mexico
- 30-year-old Noe Guevara of Los Banos
- 43-year-old Joel Avila of Hollister
- 32-year-old Isrrael Garrido Cortez of Lindsay
- 24-year-old Nicolas Ruiz Cruz of Salinas
The pursuing are suspects considered outstanding:
- 30-year-old Ivan Avila Garcia of Los Banos
- 43-year-old Michael Angel Saez of Los Banos
- 33-year-old Francisco Muniz de la Mora of Riverdale
- 43-year-old Eliseo Ortiz Puyicatla of Lindsay
- 36-year-old Marco Antonio Alvarez Medrano of Mexico
Deputies those arrested were done truthful connected suspicion of expansive theft, conspiracy to perpetrate a crime, and receiving stolen property. The Tulare County Sheriff's Office adds that determination are indications that pb them to judge that Mexican cartels are intertwined with these thefts.
As good arsenic Tulare County Sheriff's Office, instrumentality enforcement from the Merced County Sheriff’s Office, the Merced County DA’s Office, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office, the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office, the Kings County Sheriff’s Office, the Kings County DA’s Office, the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, Gilroy Police, Kingsburg Police, the Tulare County DA’s Office, CHP TRATT, the National Insurance Crime Bureau and the California Rural Crimes Prevention Task Force each participated successful the operation.
