Mission police bust alleged credit card fraud ring
MISSION – Mission police arrested five people in connection with an alleged credit card scam connected to more than $25,000 in stolen merchandise.
The group used cloned credit cards – or ones encoded with the financial information of other card holders – to purchase various items such as televisions diapers, gift cards and DVD players from Target and Wal-Mart stores across the Rio Grande Valley, Mission Assistant Police Chief Martin Garza said.
“They had been able to purchase all these items with the cloned cards,” he said. “Then, they would turn over the merchandise to Mexico, where it was sold.”
Officers stopped Erick Edier Martinez, 23, on Monday as he was leaving the Target store located on the 2400 block of East Expressway 83 with a television set and noticed five additional televisions inside the his car.
Eva Idalia Arellano, 45, and Francisco Alejandro Becerra, 18, were also inside the vehicle and officers recovered 18 fraudulent credit cards from the trio.
Investigators were then led to a home in Donna where the group was allegedly storing more merchandise. Azalea Ramirez, 36, and Isidro Gonzalez, 29, were arrested at the residence.
Video footage from Target and Home Depot stores in Mission allegedly show Martinez and the two women making other purchases with the cards that day. The trio purchased more than $2,000 worth of goods in about four hours, according to the probable cause affidavit filed in their case.
Credit card fraud is becoming a more frequent problem in Mission, Garza said.
“The biggest defense (against credit card fraud) is the people working the cash register,” he said. “As we get more technology, it becomes much easier for people to do things a lot faster and easier. It’s important for the cashiers to be checking cards.”
Martinez, Arellano and Becerra were charged with credit card abuse, while Ramirez and Gonzalez face theft by appropriation charges. Both crimes are state jail felonies punishable by up to two years in jail and $10,000 in fines.
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Lindsay Machak covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4462.
