The North Platte police helped in a bust of 93 suspects across the country for “ATM jackpotting,” thought to be conducted by the infamous Tren de Aragua gang.

A Nebraska Grand Jury indicted six more suspects Nebraska Feb. 18 for taking part in deploying malware and stealing millions of dollars from ATMs in the United States.

Tren de Aragua (TdA) is a designated foreign terrorist organization.

North Platte police received intelligence from state and federal agencies that a group was targeting ATMs throughout Nebraska and surrounding states, Deputy Police Chief Kendall Allison said. The individuals allegedly utilized tools to break into ATMs, and downloaded malware into the computer hard drive to make the machines dispense currency.

Allison said at 10:04 p.m. on April 27, two individuals in an out-of-state vehicle were detained because of suspicious activity at an ATM in the 400 block of Rodeo Road. They were identified as Juan Gouveia Aguilera, 27, and Alfredo Pinto-Mendoza, 24, both of Venezuela. 

The men were charged with attempted theft. A search of their car turned up evidence that Mendoza and Aguilera were in the “jackpotting” conspiracy. Police contacted federal and state law enforcement agencies and gave them the information, Allison said.

According to court documents, TdA originated as a prison gang in Venezuela in the mid-2000s and has expanded its criminal network throughout the western hemisphere. TdA’s activities range from drug and firearms trafficking, commercial sex trafficking, kidnapping, robbery, theft, fraud and extortion.

U.S. Attorney Lesley A. Woods said TdA members also commit murder, assault, and other violent acts to advance the organization’s criminal activities. TdA has also developed an additional source of revenue through financial crimes that target financial institutions throughout the U.S., including jackpotting.

In the latest round of indictments on Feb. 18, a federal grand jury in Nebraska handed down six indictments, alleging five counts — conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank burglary and computer fraud, bank fraud, bank burglary, and damage to computers, Woods said.

Eighty-seven other suspects have previously been charged in the conspiracy, bringing the total to 93 defendants.

If convicted, the defendants face maximum penalties ranging from 20-335 years in prison, she said.

A previous indictment on Dec. 9 that alleged that Tren de Aragua conducted other jackpotting attacks, charging 22 individuals for roles in the conspiracy: 13 were charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, 10 with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, 10 with conspiracy to commit bank burglary and fraud and related activity in connection with computers, and 22 with conspiracy to launder money.

The indictment alleges that TdA transferred millions of dollars in proceeds among members and associates to conceal the cash.

And, a related indictment on Oct. 21 charged 32 individuals and alleged 56 counts, including one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit bank burglary and computer fraud, 18 counts of bank fraud, 18 counts of bank burglary, and 18 counts of damage to computers.

An additional indictment on Jan. 21 charged 31 individuals and alleged 32 counts including one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit bank burglary and computer fraud, 10 counts of bank fraud, 10 counts of bank burglary, and 10 counts of damage to computers.

Woods said the loss to victim financial institutions was in excess of $100,000 per jackpotting attempt. The overall loss to the victim financial institutions is more than $6 million, with at least another $1.74 million attempted.

The following photographs depict a few of the alleged ATM jackpotting scheme in progress and equipment used:

The Feb. 18 indictments are against Wester Eduardo Dugarte Goicochea, 43; Mauro Angel Briceno Caldera, 37; Henry Rafael Gonzalez-Gutierrez, 37; and Giovanny Miguel Ocanto Yance, 26, Venezuelan nationals residing in the Houston area were charged, in addition to Jelfenson David Bolivar Diaz, 38, and Arlinzon Jose Reyes Villegas, 21, both Venezuelan nationals.

An indictment or a complaint is an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The FBI’s Omaha Field Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Omaha is investigating the case, with assistance from an array of law enforcement agencies, including the North Platte police.

Law enforcement agencies include the FBI field offices in Denver, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, Oklahoma, Sacramento, Seattle, and Springfield, as well as the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Marshals Service, Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of the Inspector General, Financial Deposit Insurance Corporation, Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Appanoose County Sheriff’s Office, Bates County Sheriff’s Office, Sheridan Police, Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Leesburg Police, Sterling Heights Police Department, Kearney Police, Warrant Police, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Columbus Police, Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Nebraska State Patrol Crime Laboratory, Bluff City Police, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Lincoln Police, Gothenburg Police, Loudon Police, Alcoa Police, Kearney Police, Milford Police, Grand Island Police, Nebraska State Patrol, Papillion Police, Central City Police, Holdrege Police, New York State Police, Berkeley Police, Cook County Electronic Monitoring Unit, Aurora Police, Austin Police, United States Capitol Police, Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office, City of Rome Police, Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, McCook Police, Nebraska DMV Crime Analysts, Rantoul Police, Olathe Police, Walla Walla Police, Milton-Freewater Police, Missoula Police, Omaha Police, Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, Sidney Police, Denver Police, Howard County Sheriff’s Office, St. Paul Police, Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office, Glendale Police, Columbia Police, Brookfield Police, Wauwatosa Police, Mount Pleasant Police, Grafton Police, South Milwaukee Police, Dubuque Police, Fargo Police, and Paducah Police.

This case is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nebraska, and Joint Task Force Vulcan. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Western District of Washington, Eastern District of California, Southern District of New York, Northern District of Illinois, Central District of Illinois, Eastern District of Oklahoma and Eastern District of Wisconsin, as well as the Larimer County Attorney’s Office, Colorado Attorney General’s Office, Tennessee 9th District Attorney General’s Office, Tennessee 5th District Attorney General’s Office, the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center, East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, and Louisiana State Police have provided significant assistance.

This Operation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative, established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad.

Through interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders, officials say.

In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.

HSTF Omaha comprises agents and officers from the FBI and HSI.

The Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV) was created in 2019 to eradicate MS-13 and has now expanded to target TdA. JTFV is comprised of U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country, including Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; Eastern and Western Districts of North Carolina; Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia; Southern District of Florida; Eastern District of Texas; Western District of Oklahoma; Northern District of Indiana; and the District of Nevada, as well as the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, and the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and Criminal Division. Additionally, the FBI, DEA, HSI, ATF, USMS, and the Bureau of Prisons are essential law enforcement partners with JTFV.

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