6 arrested in statewide grand theft ring targeting Florida supply chain trucks
All right, good morning. It’s good to be in Orlando this morning. Another good announcement for the rule of law here in the state of Florida. I think by now you guys get the drill. People, uh, commit crimes in Florida, we’re gonna take them down and they’re gonna go down for *** long time. Uh, today is no different. Today we’re announcing charges against 6 individuals in *** large grand theft ring. Uh, the individuals are Alain Espinoza Lopez, Garrison Perez, Yasser Mederos Garcia. Alexis Suarez Hernandez, Alejandro Valdez, Arli Osmani Hernandez Relova. And so what these guys did is they, uh, they, they worked together in coordinated fashion across the state, trying to span over jurisdictional lines everywhere from Central Florida on down to Broward in South Florida. Uh, they stole from, uh, trucks in the supply chain that would often be parked in parking lots, oftentimes overnight. Uh, leading to over 7.8 million in loss that we’ve been able to discover so far. Again, this, uh, this crime ring could potentially grow as the investigation continues, but at this 0.6 individuals will be behind bars for quite *** long time. Again, these guys thought they could evade jurisdiction. But what you see behind us yet again multiple times this week is an example of interagency coordination teamwork that spans the state and allows us to overcome those jurisdictional boundaries working together, uh, to put evidence together and ultimately bring charges. Uh, so this morning, uh, I would like to thank, uh, our highway patrol, uh, Colonel Gary Howes, uh, who, uh, has had 3 or 4 different jobs really thrown on him. He thought he was signing up for one when he took this role, uh, but the Highway Patrol, we call and they always answer and, and deliver for us. Uh, also great to work with, uh, Orlando Police Department Chief Eric Smith. Appreciate the work of his team, uh, in this case and, and others working with the state. And then of course we’ve, we’ve got. Uh, the, the best statewide prosecution team, uh, in the country. Uh, here we’ve got Gene Almanasi and, uh, Mary Salmon with us this morning, uh, who, who worked on this case. Gene was, was lead on it and you’ll hear from him in, in just *** little bit. Um, so again, the, the message out there to people is if you are going to commit crime, I mean first of all you shouldn’t do it anywhere, but you are an idiot if you wanna commit crimes in the state of Florida. Um, we are watching, uh, we’re gonna get you. It might take us *** little while, we cross our T’s and dot our I’s, uh, we do not hand out plea deals and we prosecute to the fullest. So I hope this message gets out there, you know, Florida’s at an all-time crime low, and that coincides with *** record year of arrests and convictions. That’s not *** coincidence, everybody. It’s not *** coincidence. The two go hand in hand. Uh, we take this seriously, we prosecute to the fullest, and ultimately we make our society safer. Florida is the number one large state to raise *** family, and under our watch, that is not gonna change. Uh, so I wanna thank our, our law enforcement partners, our investigators, they do the, the toughest work here. Uh, we get to stand up here and, and celebrate their great results, but they’re working behind the scenes up and down the state, and, uh, people in Florida are taxpayers. They don’t know how blessed they are to, to have these people working night and day, uh, to keep them safe. So thank you all for being here. I’ll turn it over now to, uh, Colonel Howes. Thank you, Attorney General Rothmeyer, uh, for your leadership. And the work you and your office do, uh, to hold criminals like we’re talking about today accountable. Thank you, sir. Uh, while we consider you the Free State of Florida’s top cop. Uh, you’re much more than that. Uh, your commitment to protecting all Floridians provides substance to Florida being *** law and order state. Our residents and visitors and especially our Florida law enforcement are grateful for your efforts and your office’s efforts. Thank you. On behalf of law abiding Floridians, thank you for the work you do. Also like to thank uh Chief Eric Smith and his dedicated men and women of the Orlando Police Department. Uh, they brought this case to our attention and truly they, they really sparked this investigation. Um, what could have been *** single arrest, uh, they took the time to think beyond just the Orlando Police Department arrest and contact. Our Florida High Patrol cargo theft task force. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t recognize some other partners in Florida law, law enforcement that helped contribute to this case, the, uh, Orange County Sheriff, the Polk County Sheriff, Saint Lucie County Sheriff, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade Sheriff, and also the Ocoee Police Department, Saint Cloud Police Department, and the Daytona Beach Police Department. Clearly *** large investigation. Additionally, job well done to the Florida Highway Patrol’s cargo theft task force. Their dedication, persistence, and attention to detail transition this case from *** single arrest, like I said, to dismantling *** large scale criminal organization. This investigation began in 2023 when the Orlando Police Department They contacted our cargo theft task force when they arrested two individuals on *** cargo theft case. Over the course of the investigation, our team identified 6 primary subjects responsible for 32 separate theft incidences, 32. These crimes involved 51 stolen commercial motor vehicles and 28 stolen cargo shipments with an estimated total loss value, like the general said, of nearly $7.8 million. These criminals targeted truck drivers when they’re at their most vulnerable. They were parked resting so they didn’t have to drive fatigued going down our interstate system and while they were doing that, these criminals would break into their trailers, steal cargo, and sometimes even steal the complete trailer and truck and trailer. They would take the stolen goods and take them across the state and unload them with businesses known to deal in stolen property. It’s important to emphasize that these crimes. are not single incidences. It was an organized criminal operation. That targeted hardworking Floridians, disrupted commerce, impeded commodities that we depend on, and really put livelihoods at risk. Thanks to the dedication and coordinated efforts of your Florida law enforcement, these criminals have been identified, arrested, and now will face Florida justice. We look forward to seeing this case move forward. Your Florida High Patrol remains committed to protecting our communities and also also the Florida economy. Again, thank you, General Uthmeyer. Uh, for your steadfast dedication to protect Florida from *** criminal element lurking, to take advantage of others. Also We appreciate you holding them accountable for their actions. And especially, uh, I’d like to thank, uh, our Florida State troopers, uh, for making Florida proud and doing what they do every day to keep Florida safe. Thank you. Chief. Thank you. First and foremost, I would like to thank the Attorney General’s Office of statewide prosecution and the Forward Highway Patrol for the continued partnership. By working together, our agencies were able to investigate this major theft organization across jurisdictional lines and ensure those responsible were held fully accountable. Organized cargo theft impacts far more than individual businesses. It disrupts supply chains, raises costs for consumers, and threatens Florida’s economy. That’s why coordinated enforcement and strong collaboration between law enforcement and prosecutors are essential when confronting criminal enterprises. The Orlando Police Department is proud of the outcome of this case. We believe it sends *** clear message organized criminal activity will not be tolerated in Orlando or anywhere in the state of Florida. Thank you. Gene, you wanna come on up here? All right, thank you, General. Thank you, Chief. Thanks for everyone, uh, thank everyone for the opportunity for me to speak today. Um, my name is Gene Almanasi. I’m an assistant statewide prosecutor over at the Office of statewide prosecution, and I, along with the general sentiment that’s been shared today, I wanted to. Reiterate how much of *** collaborative effort this was on behalf of not only the Office of the Attorney general, not only the Florida Highway Patrol, not only the Orlando Police Department, but all of the local law enforcement agencies that participated and assisted and contributed. In this effort, so I know there were some agencies that were already mentioned, but I wanted to highlight the other agencies that were not mentioned. Now I have *** list as well, so to the extent that there’s some overlap, I apologize, but I wanted to mention even the ones that were tangentially related to this takedown, so. The Orlando Police Department that was mentioned, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, I mean Sheriff’s Office, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the Saint Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, the Ocoee Police Department, the Daytona Beach Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the Miami-Dade Police Department, uh, the Miami Gardens Police Department, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, and of course to Detective James Smith from the Uh, Florida Highway Patrol cargo theft, uh, task force, uh, he was instrumental in not only investigating these incidents as they happen in Orange County but also gathering all the evidence that the Office of statewide prosecution needed over the course of these two years in order to hold these people accountable. So I thank everyone who was involved in this collaborative effort, and I thank you for this opportunity to speak today. Thanks, Gene, and, and thanks to all of our prosecutors, you know, law enforcement, uh, they, they bring in the criminals, but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t have their backs, uh, if we don’t prosecute to the fullest, uh, where you see people let out early, it undermines the hard work that they do, you know, when they put on the badge every day and they go to work, uh, they fully understand what that means. Uh, they could come face to face with somebody that wants to take their life at any moment, but they put on that badge anyway. And they go to work proudly and they do it, uh, for, for strangers, you know, the, the, the Bible says there’s no greater love than to lay down your life for *** friend. They do it for people they don’t even know, uh, because it’s that important here in our state. So we’re gonna have their backs. We’re gonna prosecute to the fullest. Uh, we’re not gonna be like these other states where, uh, you see people that get released 1314 times and then ultimately engage in, in very heinous crimes. Uh, I, I do want to end on another positive note. Uh, we, you know, we received that there was some word from the, um, local state attorney’s office at some point in the last year that, you know, they, they just needed help, didn’t have resources with the backlog. Um, so our AG’s statewide prosecution office had *** tiger team that stepped in to help in addition to their other duties. Uh, they decided to, you know, get cross sworn and, and help to alleviate. Alleviate that backlog. Um, so we have ***, *** black back the blue award in the AG’s office that’s given out to, uh, people that exemplify superb leadership to support law enforcement in the fight against, uh, criminal activity. Um, and I wanna recognize *** handful of people that are here this morning. I’ll, I’ll call you all if you all wanna come up front, and then, uh, we’ll, I’ll give you the certificates and we can, uh, take *** little photo. Uh, so Gene, you’re number one, you’re already up here, uh. Gene Amanasi, am I saying that right? All right, very good. So here’s yours, sir. Yeah. And then we have uh Taylor Chatting. Come on up. Yeah, I’ll shake your hand here. There we go. All right. Rebecca Addison. Yeah. And uh Lauren Day. Man. Come over here. Gene, come over on this side for *** minute. Let’s take *** quick photo. Let me All right, there we go. All right, I won’t have you hanging off the end. All right, we’re looking at Fred here. Do one more, he had his award backwards. It All right, thanks guys. Thank you. So thanks to the work of these guys and our prosecutors all over the state, uh, we’re pushing hard to have our prosecutors designated in the state’s special risk retirement, which allows earlier and more retirement. Uh, you know, when bad guys go away, you know, the last face they see is oftentimes the prosecutor. The person that’s standing in front of them in the courtroom making the case to ensure that they’re held accountable, um, so you know that there’s risk in the job, you know, some of these people do get released at some point, uh, hopefully not too early, uh, but also when you’re, when you’re going through, uh, child pornography, trafficking. Uh, you know, heinous murder and other criminal evidence, uh, it can take *** toll on you. That’s tough. Um, it has to be done. We’ve got to put the record together. The, the rules of evidence are specific. Somebody’s got to do it and these people do it and they do it willingly. So we, we need to take care of them and have their back. Uh, I’ll, I’ll end by saying, you know, there, there’s *** case in Central Florida we’ve been monitoring. Uh, you may recall *** recent triple murder that happened in the Orlando area, an individual, um, literally named with the name jihad and his name. Uh, he, he murdered 3 tourists in cold blood that were going to an auto show. Um, this guy had been released recently before, uh, on *** stipulation with the state attorney’s office. Uh, we disagree with that act. Uh, I hope that he will be prosecuted to the fullest here. Uh, we see multiple second degree murder charges that have currently been filed. Uh, that’s not enough. I certainly hope it’s gonna go further. We would like to see the death penalty pursued, which will take *** grand jury finding. Uh, so we will be watching very closely in this case. We need to set an example. We can’t let people that, uh, the, the, the previous charge was attempted murder, and he was literally allowed to walk free. That can’t happen, not in our Florida, not under the watch of our prosecution. So we’ll be watching that and again, we’re gonna do everything we can, uh, to protect the citizens of the state. Including and especially Central Florida. All right, well that’ll take any questions. Very Gene, am I, am I allowed to answer any of these questions you wanna. I get, I get confused when it’s *** pending case, what I can say and can’t say. I, I get in trouble on my own just enough. OK, 9th Judicial Circuit, yes. Sure. Uh, I believe as of as of about *** couple of weeks ago, 3 of them were in the Orange County jail. I recently attended, uh, initial appearances for them *** couple of weeks ago, and the other 3, I believe, are out of county if I’m not mistaken, so. Yes, yes, the charges that they all face currently either individually or in principle would be grand theft charges, conspiracy to commit grand theft, and those are the charges. I think 3 counts were filed in an information recently. Thanks. But Like What do you have to say about the Well, let’s remember, the last case did not go to *** jury. When juries look at this, uh, they rarely, rarely accept these, these bogus insanity defenses. I mean, somebody that goes out and kills 3 people, uh, total strangers and kills them, I mean, like, who’s really gonna say that’s *** sane person? Uh, I understand there are people that do have mental defects that have capacity issues. Um, where that’s the case, we’ve proposed at the state of Florida that they not be released early. They still complete their entire sentence, but they do so in, you know, in, in *** mental facility, you know, at *** barred hospital. We’re not letting these people out. So that, you know, he was let out on attempted murder. Thankfully he missed that time. Then he goes and kills 3 people. We’re just gonna let this guy out again because he claims he’s insane. This is wrong. Um, we, we see this across the country. Uh, we recently interdicted an individual in Ocala, Central Florida. He had stabbed *** 6-year-old boy in Kentucky multiple times in the head, killing him, and then he was allowed out in, in 7 or 8 years. So he came down to Florida where he had some family and he got *** residence right across the street from an elementary school. That’s, that’s what we’re dealing with in this country right now. Uh, just before Christmas, an elderly woman in, in Palm Beach, North Palm Beach shopping at *** Barnes and Noble, random guy gets off *** Greyhound bus from out of state, has *** bunch of priors, um, stabs her again, total stranger, kills her at Christmas time. Uh, people have to be safe to go to *** bookstore in Palm Beach County in *** safe area. Um, so we, we need to change this law. We need to make sure, uh, people that are found legitimately to have mental defects, um, you know, under the Constitution we cannot impose the death penalty if that finding has been made, but they should be locked up forever. We cannot risk our kids, our families being subjected to evil and violence. Uh, and they certainly, we should not have state attorneys stipulating to these facts based on some expert that the defense attorney found. was not *** jury. All right, I think you guys have heard my, uh, my passion on that. Yes, ma’am. like Those have been reported to your office What I’ll say is we, we’ve received numerous complaints about HOAs, some, some criminal, uh, some civil, just abuse of power. Uh, we see *** trend across the state of Florida right now where, uh, HOAs are engaging in abuse. I know the legislature’s looking to rein in, uh, some of these, you know, organizational powers. Um, we’re investigating, uh, financial crimes continue to get more complex across the state. multi-jurisdictional oftentimes including crypto and you know other foreign currencies, um, so we’ve got to stay one step ahead of the bad guys we’ve got to continuously train, educate, and, and innovate. uh, we’ve got *** great cyber fraud financial crimes unit in the AG’s office that’s working on this. Uh, I’ll, I’ll also add, you know, we see these crimes impacting seniors all the time. Um, seniors get these fake text messages and emails and, and pleas, it’s oftentimes sadly from, uh, family members or people pretending to be family members, and, you know, they’re generous, they’re kind, they, they wanna give and, and take care of others, and then ultimately they’re, they’re harmed. Um, so we’re really honed in on protecting our seniors. We wanna be the number one retirement state. Uh, we don’t want people to, to lose their hard earned savings at the end of their life, and they, they left this world better for us than they found it. We need to do the same for the next generation. elaborate with. Yeah, my understanding is, I mean, it’s, it’s *** lot of, you know, products sold in the supply chain, you know, in, in commerce, Gene, I don’t know if we can talk about any other specifics, but products you, you would buy, um, you know, at, at various department stores and so forth. Anybody else? Well again thanks to everybody that’s here this is why we have the lowest crime rates in Florida history. It’s because of the hard work of these people standing behind me every single day so God bless.
6 arrested in statewide grand theft ring targeting Florida supply chain trucks
Updated: 10:48 AM EST Feb 12, 2026
Six people were arrested in connection with a large grand theft ring, according to Attorney General James Uthmeier. Uthmeier explained that the suspects worked together to steal from supply chain trucks across the state. In total, this has led to over $7.8M in losses.”This crime ring could potentially grow as the investigation continues,” Uthmeier said. The suspects were accused of being responsible for 32 separate cargo theft incidents, which included 51 stolen commercial motor vehicles and 28 stolen cargo shipments. Uthmeier credited the interagency coordination and teamwork for the arrests.
ORLANDO, Fla. —
Six people were arrested in connection with a large grand theft ring, according to Attorney General James Uthmeier.
Uthmeier explained that the suspects worked together to steal from supply chain trucks across the state. In total, this has led to over $7.8M in losses.
“This crime ring could potentially grow as the investigation continues,” Uthmeier said.
The suspects were accused of being responsible for 32 separate cargo theft incidents, which included 51 stolen commercial motor vehicles and 28 stolen cargo shipments.
Uthmeier credited the interagency coordination and teamwork for the arrests.