Porch pirates hacked shipping info to target valuable packages: prosecutor

Prosecutors in New York say they’ve damaged up a complicated pirate ring through which the alleged thieves hacked monitoring data that investigators say led them to useful packages as they have been delivered.

“The conspirators seemed to be ready for the packages,” Suffolk County District Lawyer Ray Tierney informed reporters this week.

With the vacation procuring season approaching, he’s urging customers to pay attention to the anticipated supply time of their packages and produce them in straight away.

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This nonetheless picture from a safety video reveals two alleged thieves taking a package deal from a FedEx driver whereas their getaway car waits simply steps away. Prosecutors mentioned they stole 15 Samsung tablets within the theft. (Suffolk County District Lawyer’s Workplace, FOX 5 New York)

The investigation lasted from October 2023 to February 2025 and resulted in a sweeping indictment introduced this week.

In a minimum of one case, they did not even await the packages to be delivered – with surveillance footage displaying a gaggle of thugs attacking a driver as he walked by means of a busy avenue with a package deal of 15 Samsung tablets, then leaping right into a ready getaway automotive. In one other incident, the thieves allegedly adopted a house owner to her house after she introduced a package deal inside so they might steal it, Tierney mentioned.

Different incidents captured on safety cameras present thieves looking by means of packages minutes after FedEx supply drivers drop them off.

The group was so productive, the prosecutor mentioned, that regulation enforcement seen a rise in piracy crimes on the porch. The ring can also be accused of sending packages to “fictitious” folks at different addresses simply to have them stolen, Tierney mentioned.

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The stolen items have been reportedly offered in New York Metropolis and overseas. (Suffolk County District Lawyer’s Workplace, FOX 5 New York)

FedEx mentioned in an announcement that the whole delivery trade is “proactively” working with regulation enforcement to fight the rising sophistication amongst thieves.

A lot of the suspects are from New York Metropolis. One is from Yonkers, and one other is from Valley Stream, in Nassau County. They’re accused of concentrating on working-class and rich communities in Suffolk County, a suburban space overlaying the japanese half of Lengthy Island.

They allegedly hacked knowledge containing FedEx delivery data for Verizon and AT&T gadgets and monitored the deliveries earlier than stealing them, Tierney mentioned. How precisely the data was obtained continues to be beneath investigation.

Prosecutors recognized the alleged ringleader as 29-year-old Bronx resident Andricson Jerez. He and 13 accused accomplices face a complete of fifty fees.

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District Lawyer Ray Tierney mentioned the alleged thieves usually picked up packages minutes after they have been delivered by FedEx. (Suffolk County District Lawyer’s Workplace, FOX 5 New York)

The ring is accused of utilizing insider data to accumulate packages containing smartphones and different useful electronics.

“Most incidents (and all fees) concerned residents legitimately ordering telephones,” a spokesperson for Tierney’s workplace informed Fox Information Digital. “The defendants would acquire the monitoring data for the legitimately ordered telephones and steal the package deal nearly concurrently with its supply to the vacation spot. Nevertheless, we even have proof that a minimum of one of many runners used a stolen id and positioned orders utilizing that stolen identification.”

The operation concerned about six ‘runners’, who’re accused of touring to the suburbs to steal packages. Tierney’s workplace recognized them as Wandy Almanzar Liranzo, 35, Jackson Suazo, 30, Alvaro Alvarez Fermin, no age given, Leonel Tejeda Reynoso, 32, Felipe Batista, 22, and Luger Guerrero, 26.

In response to prosecutors, Jerez had 4 so-called “lieutenants” who acted as transporters of the stolen items. They have been recognized as Luis Marte Tavares, 34, Eugenio Valencia, 35, Raimond Cabrera de Leon, 32, and Juan Baez, 48.

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Suffolk County District Lawyer Ray Tierney speaks as alleged Gilgo serial killer Rex Heuermann seems in Suffolk County District Court docket on January 16, 2024 in Riverhead, New York. (James Carbone-Pool/Getty Photographs)

That group is accused of delivering stolen items from the stash home to a few different alleged conspirators, recognized as Fawaz Hameed, a 35-year-old Manhattan electronics retailer proprietor, Anzar Ali, 57, and Eddie Zaibak, 28.

They allegedly stole the products, took them to a warehouse within the Bronx and offered a few of them at a retailer on Broadway in Manhattan, a couple of blocks south of Herald Sq.. Jerez allegedly offered different stolen items in bulk to wholesalers within the US and overseas.

Whereas executing a search warrant on the Bronx hideout, police seized 200 new telephones and greater than $100,000 in different property, in line with the district legal professional’s workplace. Photographs taken by researchers within the constructing present dozens of recent telephones piled up, nonetheless of their packaging.

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Prosecutors say Jerez faces related fees in New Jersey, and the ring is believed to function alongside the East Coast. He was launched on a $75,000 bond.

Jerez, Marte Tavares and Cabrera de Leon additionally face federal fees.

Reynoso stays jailed on $50,000 bail. Fermin was arrested in New Jersey final 12 months and later taken into ICE custody, the place he accepted voluntary departure in July, prosecutors mentioned.

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The opposite suspects have been launched beneath supervision and needed to give up their passports. A few of them have been launched with out bail as a result of their fees are ineligible beneath New York regulation.

Specialists have a couple of different suggestions to maintain your vacation packages protected, reminiscent of house safety cameras, scheduling deliveries for when you understand you will be house, staying in contact together with your neighbors, and even having packages delivered to your job in case you’re not house in the course of the day.

That is evident from an annual theft report Security.orgOne in 4 Individuals has fallen sufferer to porch piracy, and thieves have stolen greater than $8 billion price of merchandise nationwide up to now 12 months.

Eric Shawn of Fox Information contributed to this report.