(WSVN) - Investigators have arrested a father and son duo accused of running a boat theft ring throughout Miami-Dade County.
William Baez-Cartalla and William Baez-Baldes face multiple charges that include racketeering.
Officials said the men, along with several others, targeted multiple boat owners throughout Miami-Dade County.
The father and son duo allegedly recruited, scouted locations, stole pickup trucks to tow the boats, and then stripped the vessels of their parts and sold them illegally, investigators said.
“These crimes must stop, and they will stop, and that’s what you’re looking at, a one-mean machine, right here — one-mean machine that’s going to stop these boat thefts,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said.
Three other members were also arrested and accused of a number of theft-related charges.
Investigators said they are still looking for two suspects connected to the case.
In total, 17 people in the months-long case have been arrested and almost $1 million in stolen property has been recovered.
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