A Denver grand jury indicted 17 people connected to a pervasive auto theft ring on Monday.
The indictment contains 222 charges, including more than a hundred counts of auto theft and multiple counts of drug possession, distribution and identity theft, among others.
The Denver District Attorney’s Office says the year-plus investigation that led to the indictment was a joint effort between multiple enforcement agencies at the local and national levels. Investigators allege that between September 2022 and February 2024, the named defendants stole at least 190 vehicles, most of which were high-end pick-up trucks valued at a total of $9.5 million.
Police believe the indicted suspects took the stolen vehicles to Mexico where they were exchanged with cartel members for cocaine and meth. The DA’s Office says those drugs were then taken back to the Denver metro.
“These indictments should send the message that people who steal cars in Denver will be caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said Denver DA Beth McCann in a statement.
Another auto theft ring bust at the Denver International Airport led to a 20-year sentence for its alleged leader, David Nava-Delgado, in October. His arrest and conviction lines up with a 28 percent reduction in motor vehicle thefts across the state from 2023 to 2024, according to data from the Colorado Metropolitan Auto Theft Task Force.
However, in this case, the DA’s office said the suspected ring leader, Joaquin Orozco-Ponce, and five others on the indictment remain at large in Denver, Texas or Mexico. Should Orozco-Ponce end up in custody, he faces a $10 million dollar bond due to the level of felony charges sought by the DA.
“The number of stolen cars in Denver has decreased dramatically over the past two years thanks, in large part, to the incredible work of the law enforcement community. I am confident that the arrests of these 17 defendants will drive the number of stolen cars even lower,” DA McCann said.
As of Monday, 7,973 motor vehicle thefts have been reported in Denver this year alone. That’s an average of just over 700 per month and 23 per day.
The numbers have fallen over the last two years, with monthly averages at 1,228 in 2022 and 990 in 2023. DIA remains the area most heavily targeted for vehicle theft with 624 stolen there in 2024.
Police are working to prevent theft across the city through several new programs including the implementation of DenverTrack in January this year. The program preauthorizes the Denver Police Department to work with GPS information, provided by a vehicle owner, when a vehicle is reported stolen.
The indicted individuals are:
- Miguel A. Arroyo-Hernandez
- Luis G. Arroyo-Llamas
- Vania I. Bauer-Rivera
- Pavel E Burboa-Aguilar
- Ashley K Carrasco
- Oscar E. Delgadillo-Chavez
- Francisco A. Dominguez-Cruz
- Jaime L. Flores
- Brian M. Gamboa-Rodriguez
- Juan M. Herrera
- Leah S. Jones
- Joaquin Orozco-Ponce
- Jannet Salazar
- Emmanuel Sanchez
- Daniel A. Sotelo
- Javier Tapia-Lopez
- Yulian M. Zamarron-Baylon