3 Charged in Multi-Million Dollar Drug Theft Operation

CARTERSVILLE, GA -- Police have arrested three suspects accused of stealing a multi-million dollar shipment of high-powered narcotics from a truck stop in Bartow County in July 2014.

The arrests, made by the Batow County Sheriff's Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Major Theft Unit, follow a two-year investigation into the theft from the Pilot Truck Stop in Cartersville.

One suspect, Filipe Hurtado Cruz of Colorado Springs, Colo., was arrested on Thursday, Aug. 18 in Colorado Springs by agents from the GBI with the assistance of agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Colorado Springs Police Department.

Fellow suspects Yosvani Cordero and Yoandy Linares Machado were already in custody in Dalton on unrelated cargo theft charges, the GBI said.

The theft, reported on July 22, 2014, at 985 Cass White Road, involved a shipment of hydrocodone that was being transported through the Peach State along Interstate 75. According to the GBI, the three men followed the truck driver and eventually stole the truck and trailer.

The investigation led Bartow sheriff's deputies and Georgia State Patrol troopers to the location of the trailer. When officers attempted to stop the truck, a vehicle pursuit ensued. The driver of the truck eventually stopped in an industrial park, abandoned the cargo and fled on foot.

When investigators searched the truck, they found multiple GPS jamming devices along with other evidence which later connected the men to the theft, the state agency reported.

Cruz, Cordero, and Machado were each charged with three counts of cargo theft, trafficking in controlled substances, fleeing and attempting to elude police and possession of tools for the commission of a crime.

Investigators believe others were involved and expect to make more arrests in the future. If you have information about this case, call the GBI Major Theft Unit at 770-918- 6772.

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