Two Miami-Dade brothers are under arrest in connection with a theft ring in which tens of thousands of dollars worth of electronics and luxury goods were stolen using counterfeit credit cards.
The brothers, Oscar and Jose Torres, were arrested at a home located in the 8900 block of Northwest 180th Terrace in northwest Miami-Dade.
According to Miami-Dade Police, a loss prevention specialist at a retailer in Doral observed the brothers on surveillance video making large, expensive purchases over the past several days, including 10 to 15 iPads and iPhones at the same time. The brothers were making the purchases with stolen credit cards, police said.
The loss prevention employee notified police when the Torres brothers returned to the store on Tuesday. Police said throughout the day, the brothers purchased several Apple products valued at close to $8,000, all with stolen credit cards.
Police arrested the brothers early Wednesday and conducted a search of the home. Inside, officers found more than six pounds of marijuana with a street value of over $20,000, a quarter kilo of cocaine with a street value of more than $15,000, about 50 counterfeit credit cards, large amounts of cash and lots of stolen luxury merchandise.
Det. Marcos Rodriguez with the MDPD Organized Fraud Intelligence Squad told NBC 6 there is often a link between identity theft, fraud and narcotics.
"This is a very significant catch for us," said Det. Rodriguez. "We're out there proactively working these cases. The organized fraud unit is constantly seeking out these individuals and conducting their investigations on subjects."
The brothers faced a judge Wednesday for a string of charges connected to the case. It's unknown whether they've hired an attorney.
