Report: North Texas Largest Auto Theft Ring Busted, Here's What We Know

Source: gorodenkoff / Getty

After a long investigation and dozens of cars stolen, the leaders of a DFW auto ring were captured last week.

Reportedly seven men were arrested for running a multimillion-dollar national scam that officials say involves hundreds of stolen vehicles right here in Dallas.

Police confiscated stolen luxury vehicles in March during a series of SWAT operations in Garland and Dallas.

CBS News reports the investigation began last November while Grapevine Police were reviewing security camera footage of a car theft in the Grapevine Mills Mall parking lot.

According to Grapevine Police Department Crime Analyst Amanda MCNew, “After many hours of investigation, they were able to identify a suspect vehicle, and from there, it just snowballed and their investigation went wide open…” Police were able to retrieve enough visual and physical evidence from a single crime to successfully link this gang to $5-10 million in stolen vehicles from the City of Grapevine.

The gang of thieves prey on sports cars such as he following:

•  Chevrolet Camaro
• Dodge Challenger
• Dodge Charger
• Jeep Cherokee
• Chevrolet Corvette

One of the members, Jose Ramon Perez posted photographs of high-end stolen vehicles on social media from inside his garage days before a SWAT raided his Garland home, where officers discovered “evidence that he may own a tiger which he keeps at his residence.”

Although there were tiger sightings, police towed two luxury cars, GPS trackers, and a firearm.

They also found high-tech equipment that has the ability to reprogram stolen car key fobs, according to a search warrant.

Court documents filed allege that Perez and others in the business “resell to unassuming buyers and have even been caught attempting to ship stolen vehicles south to Mexico and into other states in the US.”

All suspects are charged with first-degree felony organized criminal activity. This is expected to become a federal case.