Seven men from California, including illegal immigrants, have been charged in thefts that the US Attorney’s Office call the “largest jewelry heist in US history”. Starting in March 2022, these men put a system in place where they just walked away with cargo load after cargo load with no bullets being fired or anyone witnessing them doing the massive plunder. And it continued for three years. Prosecutors said the robbery crew was scouting an international jewelry show on July 10, 2022, south of San Francisco in San Mateo when they saw the Brinks truck being loaded with a virtual treasure chest of goods. They followed the truck and when the truck stopped at a gas station about the driver and the guard went inside, these men quickly broke in and picked only some of the bags. Out of 73 bags containing millions of dollars worth of jewelry, they took 24, prosecutors said.Then these men disappeared, deactivated their cellphones and tried to cover their tracks the best.Before that, these men used the same modus operandi to rob a box truck containing Apple AirTags from China, and another semitruck with Samsung electronics. The investigators had a tough job cracking the case as there was no witness, making them rely mostly on surveillance footage and cell phone records. Prosecutors said they did not know how these men were spending any proceeds from the theft. “We don’t have any information about them spending lavishly,” Jena MacCabe, an assistant US Attorney, said. “I think as we continue to investigate this and look into what’s been going on the past few years with these defendants, we’ll know more. But right now, I don’t know what they’ve done with all the spoils from this.”
Who are the seven men?
Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado, 31, Pasadena, California.Jazael Padilla Resto, a.k.a. “Ricardo Noel Moya,” “Ricardo Barbosa,” and “Alberto Javier Loza Chamorro,” 36, is currently an inmate at an Arizona prison.Pablo Raul Lugo Larroig, a.k.a. “Walter Loza,” 41, Rialto, California.Victor Hugo Valencia Solorzano, 60, Los Angeles.Jorge Enrique Alban, 33, Los Angeles.Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores, 42, Upland, California.Eduardo Macias Ibarra, 36, Los Angeles.