MIAMI (WSVN) - Investigators have a new break in the case of a gold truck robbery.
FBI officials are looking for a Miami man, identified as Pedro Santamaria, in connection to the 2015 robbery. They are offering up to $10,000 in reward money for information.
In 2016, officials arrested his alleged co-conspirator, Adalberto Perez, in connection to the armed robbery of the secured tractor-trailer in North Carolina. A total of five people have since been arrested.
According to the FBI, Perez was the mastermind behind the heist. They said he tracked the truck by GPS and had previously installed a switch to kill the engine. He and two other crooks pulled up to the truck in a white Nissan van and began their robbery.
“Pulled them out of the vehicle at gunpoint and zip-tied them on the side of the highway in Wilson County, North Carolina and stole approximately $4.8 million in gold bars,” FBI special agent Justin Fleck said.
A 911 call made by a man after he discovered the zip-tied victims was released.
“It looks like they’ve got some sort of guard uniform on. They’ve got their hands zip-tied behind their backs, and they are out in the road trying to flag people down to call the police,” the caller told dispatchers.
The tractor-trailer carrying nearly $5 million worth of gold bars was traveling from Miami to Boston, Massachusetts.
“So the gold was 99.99 percent pure gold,” Fleck said. “It was in the form of gold bars. They weighed about 27 pounds each. Each bar was worth anywhere from $400,000 to $600,000.”
The FBI said Santamaria took a third of the stolen gold and has been living off of that for the past three years.
As for Perez, he remains behind bars. His home was raided by government officials where $600,000 in cash was discovered. Cars and a boat were also confiscated from his property.
“We’ve arrested five individuals that have been involved in the various stages of this robbery,” Fleck said. “There were three individuals that were involved in the robbery itself, and as you can imagine, after the robbery, quite a few people were involved in getting rid of the gold.”
Officials said Santamaria lives in Southwest Miami-Dade but might also be hiding out in Texas. He’s believed to be armed and dangerous.
If you have any information on this man’s whereabouts, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for that reward.
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