AVENTURA, FLA. (WSVN) - - Police have arrested a duo they said were stealing credit card information at a Marathon gas station.
A camera caught a white van as it pulled up to the Marathon gas station along Biscayne Boulevard, Wednesday.
According to Aventura Police, the two men pretended to be customers but were actually installing a skimming device, which can steal credit card information at the gas pump.
Although the van doors were open, officers said they noticed the gas tank was on the opposite side from the pump.
“That caught his eye. Why does it look like he’s pumping gas when the gas tank is on the other side of the car?” said Aventura Police Maj. Michael Bentolila.
That’s when police pulled up and confronted the men.
Police said they found huge oil drums inside their van that could hold over 1,200 gallons of fuel.
“The vehicle was outfitted illegally with two fuel bladders in the back,” Bentolila said. “They were able to successfully pin them in without allowing them to get away. Our investigation revealed that they were in the process of installing a skimmer onto the fuel pump.”
Police arrested Nelson Diaz and Luis Reyes. Officials said they had skimming devices and re-encoded credit cards with other people’s identities.
“They had the means and the ability to put a skimmer in and also had the means and the ability to take information out and put it onto cards to use for fraudulent activity,” Bentolila said.
Bentolila said this could have affected a lot of people in the area who fuel up at the Marathon gas station. “To catch them in the act, that is something that we’re really proud of our officers for staying on top of it,” he said. “Our police are very vigilant. We’re out there. We’re watching, we’re looking.”
Diaz and Reyes have since been transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
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