News Nearby: Police Break Up 'Pump and Dump' Fuel Theft Ring

Several people were arrested as police busted up a so-called “pump and dump” scheme in Lilburn.

Lilburn Police said in a Thursday press release that several law enforcement agencies served arrest and search warrants at seven different locations in Gwinnett on Oct. 27.

Police seized 11 cars and trucks, six semi-tractors, 2,700 gallons of stolen diesel fuel, and $15,000 in cash.

Also found were stolen and cloned credit cards, and the tools to alter the cards with stolen personal identification information.

The Lilburn PD press release included the following:

This investigation began on April 17, 2013, when an employee of Murphy’s USA gas station located at 3950 Lawrenceville HWY in Lilburn reported a suspicious vehicle and purchase of fuel. Through a lengthy investigation, Lilburn Police Investigator Bert Ross was able to determine that there was an organized ring of people, primarily Cuban immigrants, who were using cloned credit cards and/or stolen identification to make multiple purchases of fuel using altered financial transaction cards. The fuel was generally being pumped into storage tanks that were created to fit into altered compartments of vehicles so that the amount of gas pumped exceeded the manufacturer’s designed capacity of the vehicle.

Arrested were

Jorge Garcia Ramirez, Ernesto Perez and Edwin Yera Ramos of Lilburn; Jesus Toledo Gonzalez, Ernesto Carcache and Lazaro Torriente Morales of Lawrenceville; and Rene Sosa of Norcross.

They are charges with theft by taking, financial transaction card forgery, financial transaction card theft, and financial identity theft. More charges are possible.

The warrants and searches were conducted by the following agencies:

Lilburn PD, the United States Secret Service, Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office, Gwinnett County Metro Task Force, Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office, Georgia Department of Revenue, Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Motor Carriers, Georgia Department of Agriculture, Discover Card Investigations, Baldwin County (GA) Sheriff’s Office, Duluth PD and Murphy Security.