MIAMI, Fla. – Three men have been arrested for a series of thefts of semitrailers loaded with $9 million of frozen beef from Midwest meat-packing plants. The investigation, headed by the U.S. Homeland Security Department, has linked the loss of 45 truckloads of butchered beef to a crime ring in Miami. Agents are reluctant to discuss details because the probe is ongoing, but so far there have been the arrests of the three men. The men, all with Miami addresses, appear to be fairly low-level operatives, according to court documents, They were charged with transporting stolen goods and money laundering .It is known that the discovery of the Miami-based theft ring began in June with a Nebraska investigation into the disappearance of semitrailers near Grand Island and Lincoln. Since then, other thefts have been discovered in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and the Dakotas. Besides beef, there also were thefts from pork-processing plants.
Geo-tracking trucks
Documents in federal court in Miami say that phone records and GPS tracking devices on trucks were usedas evidence to charge the three men who have bene arrested so far. The men, according to the documents. were in and around packing plants from which the trailers of meat were stolen. Where the meat was taken was not indicated in the documents.
Arrested
> Delvis L. Fuentes, age 39, who has been released on bail and whose attorney said plans to plead not guilty.
> Yoslany Leyva Del Sol, 38, whose attorney said plans to plead not guilty.
> Ledier Machin Andino, 37, whose attorney has not returned news media inquiries.