Global Courant 2023-04-16 04:46:10
Three suspects were arrested this week in Texas in connection with an alleged organized fuel ring, accused of stealing 18,000 gallons of gasoline from a station.
Employees at the Rickey Rockets gas station in Garland, Texas, alerted police after becoming suspicious of a white box truck that kept showing up, FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth reported Saturday.
After a multi-county investigation, Julio Benitez-Hernandez, 30, Joxan Santos-Legon, 42, and Rafael Vazquez-Unzaga, 30, were arrested Thursday 150 miles northeast of Garland in Bowie County.
Investigators checked the suspects’ truck into Bowie County, where the suspects were reportedly found with 1,500 gallons of stolen gasoline.
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Joxan Santos-Legon, left, and Rafael Vazquez-Unzaga, right, were arrested Thursday along with Julio Benitez-Hernandez. The Benitez-Hernandez mugshot was not available. (Bowie County Jail)
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“This is about four different counties of these individuals,” Garland Officer Felicia Jones told FOX 4. “There’s no telling how many different locations, and how many times, and how much was taken each time they made a trip.”
The suspects are accused of pumping the gas at a normal rate while slowing the meter, the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center told FOX 4.
The suspects’ truck had an internal storage system, police said (Police Garland)
Their box truck also reportedly has an internal storage system for the stolen gas, Garland police said.
The suspects were booked in the Bowie County Jail and will eventually be returned to Garland, according to FOX 4.
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They are charged with fuel theft in Garland, Bowie and Franklin counties.
