FBI makes two arrests, breaks up major valleywide theft ring

Two Las Vegas men have been arrested in the breakup of what FBI agents are calling a major theft ring that stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drugs and high-quality merchandise from delivery vans and warehouses around the valley.

Julio De Armas Diaz, 53, and Alexis Torres Simon, 44, both Cuban immigrants, were taken into custody early Monday by FBI agents as they were about to kidnap and rob a delivery van driver at gunpoint, according to a federal complaint.

Agents moved in and made the arrests at 6:35 a.m. in the parking lot of Hoggard Elementary School, 950 N. Tonopah Drive, which was about 500 yards from the home of the delivery driver. A federal magistrate ordered both men detained as they face an April 23 preliminary hearing on theft and robbery charges.

The investigation, conducted by agents assigned to the FBI’s Organized Crime Squad in Las Vegas, is continuing.

Agents had enlisted the help of a confidential informant inside the group before the arrests.

In the criminal complaint, FBI Agent Shay Christensen said agents have been investigating the ring since September and have learned its method of operations.

Members of the organization conducted surveillance at retailers around the valley to determine delivery patterns, the complaint alleges. Once a delivery truck was identified, members followed the truck to a warehouse where the merchandise was stored.

“For days to weeks prior to the planned theft, the group will conduct surveillance to determine the best time to break into the warehouse in order to steal the merchandise inside,” the complaint said.

Members used a torch to cut holes in metal garage-style doors to enter the warehouses and steal the goods, which were loaded into waiting vehicles, the complaint alleges.

The group, according to the complaint, also stole merchandise directly from delivery vans or trucks parked at stops on the way to warehouses.

FBI agents linked the ring to the Oct. 15 warehouse theft of $573,756 in exclusive Coach merchandise, including purses, in southeast Las Vegas, the complaint alleges. The thieves cut a hole in a rear door of the warehouse to get inside.

Agents tied group members to November break-ins of delivery vans carrying pharmaceutical drugs, the complaint alleges. More than $20,000 worth of drugs were stolen from one van in a parking lot outside a Smith’s pharmacy in northwest Las Vegas.

As late as March 25, nearly $20,000 in drugs were stolen from a delivery van parked outside a Walgreens pharmacy in southwest Las Vegas, according to the complaint.

FBI agents decided to make the arrests after the confidential informant told them the group was planning Monday’s early morning kidnapping and armed robbery, the complain alleges. The informant agreed to participate in the scheme.

In a secretly recorded conversation with the informant, the complaint alleges, De Armas Diaz and Torres Simon revealed details of the kidnapping plan.

They told the informant that they were going to use a recently purchased gun to force the driver to give up his merchandise, it states. Then, they planned to tie up the driver and put duct tape over his mouth.

The defendants planned to stash the merchandise stolen from the van in a co-conspirator’s home and then leave the van somewhere in town with the bound driver inside, the complaint alleges.

Agents swooped in to make the arrests as the defendants gathered at the elementary school before the robbery could take place.

Contact reporter Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter.