DENVER (KDVR) — The Denver District Attorney’s Office announced Monday that 17 alleged members of a “major stolen car ring” were indicted and accused of stealing at least 190 vehicles between September 2022 and February 2024 and allegedly trading them to Mexican drug cartel members.
The indictment has 222 counts in it including over 100 counts of auto theft and more than a dozen counts of drug possession and other crimes.
Officials told FOX31 that 11 of the 17 were in custody as of Monday, while the remaining six were believed to be in Colorado, Texas or Mexico.
Most of the over 190 vehicles were high-end pickup trucks, with a total loss of over $9.5 million, and most were stolen between May and October of 2023.
According to the indictment, this included over 45 Ford Raptors and 10 Dodge Ram 1500 TRX trucks.
The Denver District Attorney’s Office announced 17 people had been charged in connection to a “major car theft” ring. (Credit: KDVR)
According to Denver District Attorney Beth McCann, these vehicles were taken to Mexico where they were traded to drug cartels for cocaine and methamphetamine. McCann said these drugs were imported back into the U.S. and brought to Denver.
David Olesky with the Drug Enforcement Administration said the group was linked to the Sinaloa cartel.
A prosecutor with the DA’s Office said Denver is “uniquely geographically situated,” making it easier for vehicles to get out of the City and County of Denver.
She said Denver has a major international airport but is surrounded by a lot of states that do not have the same access to international flights. This means that many people drive into Denver in four-wheel drive vehicles and larger pickup trucks to travel somewhere else.
According to an indictment, many of the vehicles were stolen from Denver International Airport parking lots.
The Denver DA was joined by members of the Colorado Metro Auto Theft Prevention Authority, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations and other law enforcement agencies.
