Authorities in Miami-Dade County have charged five individuals related to a retail theft ring that spanned 13 counties in Florida and involved numerous thefts.
According to Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials on Tuesday, Maike Acosta De Armas, 47, Lazaro Santiago Acosta De Armas, 45, Yusser Echemendia Rodriguez, 42, Elias Ramos Hernandez, 48, and Honasi Diaz Santos, 47, are all accused of multiple felonies, including retail theft of multiple items and an organized scheme to defraud of $50,000 or more.
According to officials, FDLE Miami agents examined a criminal complaint submitted by a company’s organized retail crime investigator in July 2022, marking the start of the investigation.
#YourFDLE Miami arrested Maike Acosta De Armas, 47, Lazaro Santiago Acosta De Armas, 45, Yusser Echemendia Rodriguez, 42, Elias Ramos Hernandez, 48, and Honasi Diaz Santos, 47, for their involvement in a large-scale organized retail theft fraud scheme. pic.twitter.com/JuF1ARt8d8
— FDLE (@fdlepio) April 2, 2024
According to the complaint, the operation took place across several counties in Florida and caused losses of thousands of dollars.
In 13 Florida counties—Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Indian River, Lee, Martin, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Sarasota, St. Lucie, and Volusia—the FDLE reported 53 theft instances.
According to authorities, the suspects either stole goods they claimed to have already bought online or used their online receipts to return stolen goods to different retailers.
The company, the identity of which remained undisclosed, lost almost $55,000 as a result of the scheme.
“This criminal group committed more than 53 thefts in 13 Florida counties, stealing thousands worth of merchandise in a fraudulent systematic scheme,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody stated. “In Florida, we go after organized retail thieves, and now this nefarious group, thanks to the work of our law enforcement partners, will be held accountable for their crimes.”
Earlier this year, Lazaro Santiago Acosta De Armas was taken into custody by Miami-Dade Police on unrelated charges, and he was placed under bond in the Metro West Detention Center.
On March 25, Echemendia Rodriguez was taken into custody by the Broward Sheriff’s Office and placed under no bond in the Broward County Jail.
On March 27, Maike Acosta De Armas and Ramos Hernandez were taken into custody and placed under no bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Detention Center.
Diaz Santos was under the Florida Department of Corrections’ supervision.
