ST. GEORGE — Two people are in jail following a traffic stop during which officers recovered financial cards and other evidence, eventually learning there was a $100,000 arrest warrant on the driver.
An officer monitoring eastbound traffic on Red Hills Parkway last week clocked a vehicle traveling approximately 60 mph in a 40 mph speed zone. The officer conducted a traffic stop and spoke to the driver, identified by his Chilean passport as Luis Mourgues-Garrido, 46, of Long Beach, California.
The officer detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. The officer then ran the driver’s information through the National Crime Information Center which indicated Garrido was wanted in Idaho on a felony robbery warrant. He then was arrested and detained by police.
The passenger was asked to exit the car and handed officers his Chilean passport, identifying him as Kevin Perez-Santibanez, 30, also from Long Beach, California.
Following the arrest of the driver, officers searched the vehicle and recovered suspected marijuana, a grinder and other paraphernalia. Officers also recovered numerous bank cards, none of which belonged to either of the suspects.
Investigators learned the cards were reportedly taken from an unlocked vehicle and the suspects had planned to use them in Las Vegas, Nevada, but had yet to charge anything on the cards.
The statements made to police and the evidence recovered from the vehicle led investigators to suspect that both men were part of an international crime group that has been doing snatch-and-grabs throughout the community.
Both suspects were arrested and booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility with each facing seven third-degree felony counts of unlawful acquisition of a financial card, along with one misdemeanor count of vehicle burglary and possession of marijuana and paraphernalia.
Investigators noted that neither suspect has ties to the area and reportedly entered a vehicle unlawfully, so they requested that both be held without bail.
While the charges were under review at the Washington County Attorney’s Office, a fugitive complaint was submitted in connection with a court case filed at Fourth District Court in Idaho involving multiple charges, including grand theft, two counts of burglary and two counts of fraudulent use of a financial transaction card. The nationwide warrant was issued on Sept. 19, 2023, and bail on that case was set at $100,000.
Theft groups and rising crime
Investigators suspect that both suspects are part of an international crime group that has been engaging in snatch-and-grab thefts throughout the community, the officer noted in court documents.
These groups are highly organized criminal enterprises that travel from state to state committing burglaries and thefts similar to the two suspects arrested April 12.
Over the last year or so, law enforcement officials have issued a number of warnings to residents across Washington County to be extra cautious after a noted increase in theft, break-ins and a litany of other crimes allegedly being committed by South American crime rings, also known as South American Theft Groups, entering the United States under the guise of tourists.
These international crime groups enter the United States by way of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization program that allows people from 41 countries to travel to the U.S. for tourism or business for up to 90 days without a visa, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Those involved in these international theft groups often stay beyond the 90 days, media outlet Police One reported, by using fake identification cards that are provided by colleagues who are already in the United States.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, all rights reserved.