A Mexican truck driver has been arrested in connection to a scheme involving stealing numerous semi trailers from truck stops in the El Paso area and transporting them into Mexico.
On Friday, August 17, officers with the El Paso Sheriff’s Department arrested 52 year old Mexican national Antonio Baltierrez for theft of property more than $2500 and less than $30,000.
The theft investigation that began when a trailer was stolen from the Pilot Flying J truck stop at 1301 Horizon Blvd. in Far East El Paso County on July 16, according to KVIA.
After a GPS device on the trailer indicated that the truck was in Mexico, investigators used surveillance footage to identify the truck hauling the stolen trailer and linked that to a company in Mexico.
Authorities identified Baltierrez as the driver who entered the U.S. from Mexico on the day that the trailer was stolen and returned with it to Mexico via the Bridge of the Americas later that day.
On August 16, police began conducting surveillance on the owner of the Mexican trucking company and spotted him at the Pilot Flying J on Horizon Blvd. The trucking company owner was then seen traveling to a truck stop location at the 6700 block of Gateway East, where he was observed approaching a parked trailer with Tennessee registration number U703048.
The trucking company owner then left that location and was seen travelling to other truck stops in the area.
On August 17, police were conducting surveillance on Baltierrez when they spotted his Chihuahua, Mexico, registered truck drive away with the Tennessee trailer register number U703048.
After he was pulled over by police, Baltierrez told officers that he was at the truck stop location at 6700 block of Gateway East when a man offered him $30 to take the Tennessee trailer to another location. He later changed his story and told police that the offer was made at the Bridge of the Americas. Authorities conducting surveillance on Baltierrez say that they did not see him speak to anyone at either location.
Police have confirmed that Baltierrez is employed for the Mexican trucking company involved in the investigation. The owner of that company has not been charged with any crimes at this time.
Charging documents claims that “the company and the truck tractors have been linked to multiple thefts of semi trailers crossed into Mexico.”