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Polk Deputies Make 21 Arrests In Baby-Formula Theft Ring

News Channel 8 photo by JOE MARTIN

In one week, Polk County deputies seized nearly 2,000 cans of stolen baby formula.

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By JENNIFER LEIGH | News Channel 8

Published: March 6, 2009

Updated: 03/06/2009 11:54 am

LAKELAND - The Polk County Sheriff's Office today announced 21 arrests in what authorities say is a multimillion-dollar baby-formula theft ring operating in at least three states.

The men and women arrested face a variety of charges, including organized retail theft, shoplifting, possession of fake driver's licenses, larceny and fraud. All are in the country illegally.

The investigation began in October, when Polk deputies stopped a vehicle while looking for a suspect in an aggravated battery.

Deputies found that the men in the vehicle were in the country illegally and that they were carrying stolen baby formula and had more stored in a local motel. Seven people were arrested that day.

Interviews with the men put investigators on the trail of an organization they say orchestrated the theft of thousands of cans of expensive powdered baby formula over the past several years.

Last week alone, detectives seized 1,955 cans of formula, representing about one week's work for the theft ring, the sheriff's office said. At $25 per can, that's $48,875 worth of formula.

According to deputies, one of the women arrested said she had been stealing formula for seven years. Assuming the thieves kept up the same pace, they could have stolen $17.5 million in formula over that period.

To amass that much formula, teams of thieves would strike up to 15 stores in a single day, investigators said.

Based on accounts from the suspects, investigators learned that teams of two men would enter a store, leaving a getaway driver outside. They would walk straight into stores, load up carts with baby formula, then meet a team of women in a different aisle.

The women would fill oversized purses with the cans of formula, then simply walk out of the store.

The teams made no effort to cover up their thefts by buying other items, investigators said. They would hit the same store several times before moving on to another one.

For a day's work, each individual involved in the ring would be paid between $100 and $300.

The lucrative theft ring was based in Atlanta, investigators said. Stolen formula was transported to North Carolina. Deputies haven't said what happened to it there because an investigation is still in progress, but they did warn consumers that deeply discounted baby formula available on the Internet and elsewhere is often stolen and may not be fresh.

Law enforcement agencies from throughout Central and South Florida collaborated on the investigation. They believe three more baby-formula theft rings are operating in the central part of the state.

Those arrested were: Eli Nimrod Castillo-Almendarez, 29; Nery Rodriguez, 24; Johny Zuniga, 23; Jose Urrutia, 26; Lucia Reyes, 30; Melba Ovellana, 31; Carlos Chacon, 22; Dania Hernandez, 24; Nelson Matute, 24; Carlos Hernandez, 23; Silvia Hernandez, 18; Neolvy Garcia, 34; Alexander Ponce, 25; Jefery Colindres, 19; Jose Chirinos-Hernandez, 25; Carmen Banega-Castillo, 22; Jessie Lopez, 36; Blanca Sevilla, 40; Eber Ramon Escalante-Almendarez, 19; David Ruiz, 26; and Sonya Ponce, 27.

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