SAN DIEGO (AP) - Nine members of a motorcycle gang known as the Hooligans have been indicted in the high-tech theft of more than 150 Jeep Wranglers in San Diego County, authorities said Tuesday.
The Tijuana, Mexico-based Hooligans Motorcycle Club used handheld electronic devices and stolen codes to make copies of keys and disable alarms on the vehicles that were then taken to Mexico to be sold or stripped for parts, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Authorities say the ring has stolen Wranglers valued at $4.5 million since the scheme began in 2014.
“The joy ride is over for these Hooligans,” Deputy U.S. Attorney Mark Conover said.
Three members of the gang have been arrested so far: Reynaldo Rodriguez, 33, of San Diego; Henry Pulido, 24, of Imperial Beach, California; and Alejandro Guzman, 23, of Tijuana.
They were expected to be arraigned Tuesday or Wednesday on charges of conspiracy to steal vehicles and transport them across the border.
Six more members of the gang are fugitives believed to be in Mexico. Authorities could not immediately say whether any of them had retained attorneys.
The surge in late-night thefts began in the summer of 2014 and perplexed investigators because no windows were broken or alarms triggered. Surveillance camera video from the home of one victim eventually revealed the techniques used.
Investigators learned that copies of key codes had been requested for 20 of the stolen vehicles by a Jeep dealer in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. That led to arrests and the targeting of the Hooligans by a multi-agency task force.
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