Over $1m worth of stolen cars and drugs recovered as part of months-long DPS investigation | Crime Files

PHOENIX - Officials with the Arizona Department of Public Safety announced on Oct. 11 that they have made arrests in connection with an investigation involving stolen vehicles.

Besides the arrests, drugs were also recovered as part of the investigation.

Here are the details in this case.

Who are the suspects?

In their statement, DPS officials identified the following suspects:

Dayanella Galdos Abarca, 24
Ricky Austin, 33
Joshua Carra, 25
Tyquan Jackson Wilson, 33

What are the suspects accused of doing?

Arrests made in months-long DPS investigation

DPS officials say they have made a number of arrests in connection with a scheme involving the sale of stolen vehicles.

According to the DPS statement, the agency's Vehicle Theft Task Force (VTTF) led a five-month investigation that focused of a group of suspects who allegedly bought stolen vehicle with illegitimate VIN numbers and shipping them to Arizona for selling.

"During the investigation, VTTF detectives learned the suspects were ordering stolen vehicles from a vehicle theft ring based on the East Coast and working together to coordinate shipment of the vehicles to Arizona. Using fraudulent out-of-state titles, the suspects then sold the vehicles at prices substantially below market value to victims in Arizona," read a portion of the statement.

Some of the stolen vehicles, according to DPS officials, include a Ferrari California, a Mercedes AMG SUV, a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, numerous Dodge sports cars, and pickup trucks.

In all, officials said 19 vehicles worth approximately $1.2 million were seized.

What else did investigators seize during the investigation?

DPS investigators say drugs were also seized during the course of the investigation, including:

13lbs of cocaine
4lbs of Adderall
20,000 fentanyl pills
10.5oz of MDMA
18.1oz of Xanax
1.82lbs of a substance described by DPS as ‘illegal mushrooms’
15.4oz of methamphetamine

In addition, $110,000 in cash and several firearms were also seized.

What are the suspects accused of?

According to the statement, Austin, Carra and Wilson are accused of multiple criminal offenses, including theft of means of transportation, trafficking stolen property, conspiracy, and fraudulent schemes.

Meanwhile, DPS officials said Abarca is accused of offenses related to conspiracy and fraudulent schemes. Abarca was reportedly an employee at a third-party MVD service provider.

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