On November 13th, 2024, court documents released in the state of Texas indicated that an organized crime ring based out of Houston had been accused of stealing more than $5 million worth of vehicles from the parking lots at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). This information was first reported by Dallas-based local news outlet WFAA , which referred to the group as one of Cuban origin, and cited an arrest warrant that had been issued for one of the principal alleged perpetrators . The group has not just been indicted for auto vehicular theft at DFW but has also been accused of targeting airports across the county in states including Louisiana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Texas.
Law enforcement officials believe that the group uses remote devices to reprogram key fobs to open locked cars within the parking lots , before changing their ID numbers, driving them illegally into Mexico, and then retitling them. Get all the latest aviation news from Simple Flying! Texas detectives indicated that they have been investigating this organized group since February 2023, and after tracing multiple different thefts, have been able to identify 14 different alleged suspects, three of which are currently in law enforcement custody. Court documents have indicated that the group appears to target vehicles with higher market value (primarily luxury SUVs and sedans).
In total the group has been accused of 52 different car thefts which documents indicate have a market value of over $5.