An organized ring of thieves with a national presence has been accused of stealing nearly $5 million in vehicles from one of the nation’s busiest airports.
According to a search warrant obtained by a local media outlet, the ring which has at least 14 members has been identified and blamed for the thefts of more than four dozen vehicles from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport between early 2023 and November 2024.
“Approximately 14 suspects have been identified…the suspects in this group have stolen approximately 52 cars from DFW, for a total loss of $4.9 million,” read the document obtained and reported by Dallas-Ft. Worth station NBC 5.
(Video Credit: KVUE)
“When I checked under my TollTag account, I saw that on Saturday night, it was on a tollway in Houston on a Harris County toll road,” Chaz Mady, whose truck was stolen from an airport parking garage, told NBC 5 in November 2023, saying that the crime discouraged him from using airport parking again.
“The last thing I want to do when I come home is worry if my car is still in the garage or not,” Mady said.
The search warrant reveals that investigators have arrested three suspects, including the ringleader, “Yoel Hernandez-Frometa uses Autel devices to reprogram key fobs so he can steal vehicles.”
According to the outlet, police said that the theft ring has also targeted other airports in Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.
“What we have seen is that the crime is getting more and more sophisticated as technology progresses,” Alex Del Carmen, a Tarleton State criminologist told the outlet in September.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport said that “airport police have recently made significant arrests that have disrupted organized crime rings and greatly reduced reported car thefts at DFW.”
“In 2023 there were a total of 142 vehicle thefts reported in the terminal areas at DFW. Through November 2024 there were only 60 cars reported stolen, which is a reduction of nearly 58% year-over-year,” said a DFW Airport spokesperson in a statement. “Police are generally seeing thieves target high-end muscle cars and luxury SUVs. As has been reported extensively, auto theft is an unfortunate national issue that airports and other public facilities across the country are confronting.”
The DFW spokesperson added that the number of vehicle thefts last year was low when considering that there are 3.4 million vehicles that are parked at the airport each year.
“From my time as a U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret, I’ve seen that organized theft rings use many of the same tactics as transnational crime networks or terrorist cells,” Imperio Consulting CEO and founder Eric Brown told Fox News Digital.
“They look for easy targets, focusing on weak security measures and predictable routines. The key for travelers is to avoid making your vehicle a soft target,” added Brown, a security expert and Green Beret veteran of 24 years.
“These groups often divide tasks among different teams. One crew scouts parking lots, noting high-value vehicles and passing that intel to the thieves. A separate group handles fake paperwork and arranges storage or resale. This setup keeps them flexible and difficult to track,” he explained.
“Park in a well-lit spot, lock your doors, remove valuables or keep them out of sight, and make sure any alarm or tracking system is active,” Brown advised.
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