Over $5M worth of cars stolen from DFW Airport by organized theft ring, warrants reveal
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport police are investigating an organized theft ring they believe has stolen more than 50 cars from the airport, totaling a loss of approximately $5 million.
According to search warrants filed in late October, the suspected Cuban auto theft group, based in Houston, has generated a total loss of $4,938,771 for victims whose cars were stolen from airport parking areas.
DFW Airport police have been investigating the large organized crime ring since February of last year, according to court documents. In October, airport police arrested three suspects who had items that are commonly used by car thieves to break into and steal a vehicle, investigators said.
Detective April Lee, from the DFW Airport police Criminal Investigations Unit, wrote warrants for the investigation to authorize the search of the devices seized from the suspects.
The leader of the group is Yoel Hernandez-Frometa, and several other suspects have been identified as members believed to have participated in organized crime to steal vehicles, the warrants state.
The group has targeted airports in Texas, New Mexico, Utah and Nevada, police said. After the cars are stolen, the vehicle identification numbers are changed, according to the warrants, and the cars are illegally re-titled for buyers to purchase and sometimes are taken across the U.S. border into Mexico.
Initial investigation and arrests
This investigation began when DFW Airport officers received a license plate reader alert for a suspected stolen vehicle — a red Audi — on Sept. 29, the same day when two Cadillacs were stolen with an estimated loss of $196,000, the warrants state.
The Audi entered the airport and was in the area of Terminal D when officers received the alert.
An officer found the vehicle in the 2900 block of North International Parkway on Oct. 8 and initiated a traffic stop for an unsecured temporary license plate.
Hernandez-Frometa along with Jose Antonio Perez-Rodriguez and Yainier Pinillo-Toro were in the vehicle, the warrants state. All three men face charges of engaging in organized crime, theft of property greater or equal to $300,000, and unlawful use or possession of criminal instruments with the intent to commit theft, according to Tarrant County Jail records.
Pinillo-Toro was at DFW Airport on Sept. 24 and 29, when two other vehicles were stolen with an estimated loss of $193,294.00, the warrants stated.
Hernandez-Frometa and Perez-Rodriguez have been arrested in other states and in the Houston area in connection with similar auto theft cases in the past, authorities said.
The Las Vegas Police Department linked both suspects to auto thefts at Las Vegas Municipal Airport in 2023, according to court documents.
On April 12, Phoenix, Nevada, police arrested Hernandez-Frometa and Perez- Rodriguez on allegations of attempting to steal a Corvette.
On July 12, Salt Lake City police arrested Hernandez-Frometa and Pinillo-Toro on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle, theft equal to or greater than $5,000 and evading arrest.
On Aug. 1, Harris County, Texas authorities found Perez-Rodriguez was in possession of a stolen vehicle that had been VIN-switched, the warrants stated.
Hernandez-Frometa was at DFW Airport, and in the same terminals where vehicles were stolen from parking lots and garages at least eight times between July 11, 2023, and Oct. 8, or he was leaving the airport at the same time as stolen vehicles, according to further investigations.
Surveillance cameras captured his image in more than one stolen vehicle, the warrants stated.
Hernandez-Frometa has an extensive arrest history including three arrests on engaging in organized criminal activity in 2024, five charges of unlawful use of a criminal instrument in 2024, and three charges of theft between 2022 and 2024, the warrants state.
Hernandez-Frometa, 38, of Houston, was booked into the Tarrant County Jail on Oct. 10. He was being held without bond until his defense attorney filed a motion seeking to set bond. The attorney wrote that the facts of the case “show that the Defendant is not a continuing danger to society” and “he will appear in court as scheduled.” The attorney requested bond of $10,000. The judge set the bond at $300,000.
Pinillo-Toro, 30, and Perez-Rodriguez, 29, both of Houston, also are in the Tarrant County Jail. Their bond has not been set.
Devices used to commit auto theft
When making the arrests, police discovered devices that are commonly used by car thieves, the warrants stated.
The suspects were in possession of instruments including an Autel key programming device and Bluetooth vehicle communication interface, a laptop computer, car unlocking tools, two screwdriver sets, a knife, pliers, data cables for the devices, and 14 key fobs, according to the warrants.
The Autel devices can be used to reprogram key fobs to unlock and steal cars, the detective wrote.
The key programming devices can store logs and other electronic data related to key cloning, Detective Lee wrote. The devices could contain a record of the key generation that could assist police in identifying the vehicles that have been stolen, according to the warrants.
Lee believes the Autel devices include vehicle identification logs of cars that were stolen, user and account information of those using the Autel device, Wi-Fi connection points due to the fact the Bluetooth must have an internet connection, and photos of stolen vehicles, the documents state.
According to the Autel website, the MaxiIM KM100 touchscreen tablet can program the Autel IKEY as a smart key replacement for more than 700 vehicles and offers programming capability for vehicle brands including BMW, Volkswagen and Honda.
According to data from DFW Airport previously reported by the Star-Telegram, thefts have surged in the past couple of years, with a vehicle being stolen about every other day on average, and car thefts nearly doubling in 2023 compared with the previous year.
DFW Airport police declined any further comment to the Star-Telegram at this time.
This story was originally published November 13, 2024 at 12:54 PM.