Articles and News
7 Men Charged With Stealing $100 Million in Gold, Gems, Jewels and Watches June 18, 2025 (0 comments)
Los Angeles, CA--Seven Southern California men were charged in connection with what federal prosecutors described Tuesday as the largest jewelry heist in U.S. history.
The men are accused of breaking into a Brinks semitruck and stealing approximately $100 million worth of gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and luxury watches that were in transport from an international jewelry show near San Francisco in July 2022, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for California’s Central District. Some of the jewelry was recovered during the execution of search warrants on June 16, prosecutors added.
The indictment, returned June 11, charges seven defendants with two counts of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipment. They are:
- Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado, 31, of Pasadena;
- Jazael Padilla Resto, a.k.a. “Ricardo Noel Moya,” “Ricardo Barbosa,” and “Alberto Javier Loza Chamorro,” 36, of Boyle Heights and currently an inmate in Arizona state prison;
- Pablo Raul Lugo Larroig, a.k.a. “Walter Loza,” 41, of Rialto;
- Victor Hugo Valencia Solorzano, 60, of the Rampart Village neighborhood of Los Angeles;
- Jorge Enrique Alban, 33, of South Los Angeles;
- Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores, 42, of Upland; and
- Eduardo Macias Ibarra, 36, of the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, Valencia and Alban also are charged with two counts of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act), as well as additional counts of theft from interstate and foreign shipment.
Padilla is currently in Arizona state prison serving a prison sentence for third-degree burglary with unlawful entry. He is expected to appear in federal court in the coming weeks.
Two of the men were scheduled to appear in court Tuesday, according to the statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for California’s Central District.
According to the indictment, “on the evening of July 10, 2022, Mestanza, Lugo, and Alban scouted a Brinks semitruck leaving an international jewelry show in San Mateo, California, with 73 bags containing millions of dollars of jewelry. From the evening of July 10 to the morning of July 11, Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, Valencia, Presilla, Macias and other co-conspirators followed the Brinks truck approximately 300 miles from that jewelry show in San Mateo to rest stops in Buttonwillow and Lebec, north of Los Angeles.”
The indictment continued, “While the truck was stopped in Lebec, those defendants stole 24 bags from the Brinks truck containing approximately $100 million of jewelry. In the following days, Mestanza, Presilla, Alban, Lugo and Valencia all deactivated their cellphone numbers that they had been using during the heist.”
Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo and Valencia are also alleged to have stolen $240,573 worth of Samsung electronics from an interstate cargo shipment in Ontario on March of 2022, according to the statement. Those same defendants, and Alban, allegedly then robbed a box truck driver of $57,377 worth of Apple AirTags. One of the robbers brandished a knife and threatened the driver.
In May 2022, the same four persons allegedly attempted to steal a truck at a Fontana rest stop using a crowbar to break in. Shortly after, they allegedly stole approximately $14,081 worth of Samsung electronics from another interstate shipment in Fontana.
If convicted, Mestanza, Padilla, Lugo, Valencia and Alban would face statutory maximum sentences of 20 years in federal prison for each robbery charge, and all defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the theft conspiracy charge and 10 years in federal prison for each theft charge, prosecutors said in the statement.
The FBI, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Fontana Police Department, and the Ontario Police Department are involved in the investigation, which is ongoing.
Read the statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for California’s Central District.