Earlier this week, the Denver District Attorney's Office announced indictments to 17 individuals accused of taking part in the theft of more than 200 vehicles from the Denver metro area. But new reports suggest that the culprits then traded the high-end pickup trucks with cartel members for cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine, which was then smuggled into the U.S. and distributed in Colorado's capital city.
According to court records, the 17 suspects allegedly stole over 200 vehicles worth an approximate $10 million between September 2022 to February 2024. They targeted pickup trucks and SUV's at the Denver International Airport.
David Olesky, an Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the Drug Enforcement Administration's Denver office said that the Sinaloa Cartel requested larger vehicles so that it could modify them with ballistic armor and mountings for high-caliber firearms.
Olesky said the auto theft ring was a sophisticated operation between the two groups, saying it was "something akin to what we might see in a Hollywood movie."
The 17 people identified in the indictment included Denver residents and Mexican nationals. Investigators say the suspects played specialized roles: some stole vehicles, others drove them across the border while others orchestrated the exchange of drugs and its distribution back in Denver.
According to the indictment, 11 of the 17 suspects are currently in custody while six others remain at-large in either Colorado, Texas or Mexico, including Joaquín Orozco Ponce alias "Adrián Trocas," who is the alleged leader of the operation and authorities believe to be on the run in Mexico.
The indictment says Orozco Ponce coordinated the transactions between the group and the Sinaloa Cartel through several members of his organization that operated in Texas and Mexico, including Daniel Sotelo, Francisco Domínguez-Cruz, Emmanuel Sánchez and Javier Tapia-López.
Ashley Beck, Senior Deputy District Attorney in McCann's office, described that the criminal group physically manipulated locks to gain access to vehicles, then "plugged in" electronically to the vehicle security system using a key fob tool. The key fobs are programmable to certain models of car and truck, and are capable of completely deactivating security systems.
According to Colorado officials, the auto theft ring was responsible for $9.5 million in losses and its most common targets were Ford Raptor and Ram TRX pickup trucks.
All in all, the investigation into Orozco Ponce's organization resulted in 222 charges, including more than 100 counts of auto theft, more than a dozen counts of drug possession and distribution and multiple counts of identity theft, criminal possession of identification documents as well as criminal possession of financial devices.
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