Nebraska beef robbery reveals multi-million dollar theft ring
A Nebraska investigation into the theft of several semi-trailers loaded with beef led to the reveal of a Miami-based multimillion-dollar theft ring. The ring targeted meatpacking plants in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.
A semi-truck filled with over $230,000 worth of beef was stolen on June 26 in Grand Island. The empty semi was found in Emerald, around ten miles west of Union College. Another semi was stolen the next day, June 27, without a trailer. This semi was found southeast of Lincoln with an empty trailer stolen from Grand Island that held $157,000 worth of beef. On Sept. 1, three empty trailers were discovered in Ottumwa, Iowa that had contained $100,000 worth of pork.
The investigation was led by the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security’s Major Crimes Task Force in Omaha. Investigators identified 45 other thefts that they believe were committed by the same perpetrators with an estimated loss of $9 million.
Three men from Miami, Fla. were arrested on Oct. 20 and charged with transporting stolen goods and money laundering. The men were identified as 38-year-old Yoslany Leyva Del Sol, 37-year-old Ledier Machin Andino, and 39-year-old Delvis L. Fuentes. During the arrests, police recovered three semis with stolen goods valued at $550,000.
Fuentes, who has a commercial driver's license, was identified as a suspect by the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office using records of devices connected to specific cellular communication towers in the area. Del Sol and Andino, who were present in Nebraska at the time of the thefts, were identified through Fuentes’s cell phone records.
Law enforcement obtained warrants and tracked the men’s cell phones through September and October. The men were tracked from Miami to Columbia, Tenn. on Oct. 10, then to Des Moines, Iowa. In Des Moines, law enforcement placed GPS trackers on the semi’s driven by Fuentes and Andino.
On Oct. 14, they were tracked to Sioux Falls, where a trailer with 19 pallets of ham was stolen. Two days later, two more semi-trailers were stolen in Worthington, Minn. from JBS foods.
The suspects were spotted by Florida Highway Patrol troopers on Oct. 20th traveling on I-75 East, near Weston, Fla. The authorities stopped Fuentes and detained Del Sol and Andino in a nearby parking lot.
Lopez was released on bond on Oct. 21 and according to his attorney, Omar A. Lopez, he plans to plead not guilty. Del Sol’s bond hearing was set for Thursday, Oct. 27, and he also planned to plead not guilty according to his attorney Alfredo Izaguirre. All three suspects will face trial in Florida federal court.
By: Aubrey Benton