Where's The Beef? Floridians Scheme To Steal Minnesota Meat: Feds

MINNESOTA — Three Florida residents were arrested last week and are accused of running a "sophisticated" scheme to steal beef and pork in the Midwest, including in Minnesota, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced.

Miami area residents Yoslany Leyva Del Sol, Ledier Machin Andino, and Delvis L. Fuentes were arrested in Florida on suspicion of transporting stolen goods and money laundering, according to ICE.

As part of the scheme, people would drive power units — a semi with no trailer yet attached — up from Florida, investigators said. They would then look for trailers full of meat that could be quickly hooked up and stolen, according to police.

On June 27, federal and local authorities began investigating a theft of several semi-trailers and loads of frozen beef in Nebraska's Lancaster County.

Investigators discovered that the Lancaster County incident was part of a larger scheme involving 45 different thefts totaling $9 million in losses, according to ICE.

The scheme targeted beef and pork packaging plants in Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin, ICE said.

On Thursday, Florida police and federal investigators arrested Del Sol, Andino, and Fuentes in the Miami metro. Authorities also recovered three tractor-trailers with stolen goods valued at $550,000, according to ICE.

The three men were the "principal targets" in the Florida-based organized criminal enterprise, investigators said.