Six suspects were arrested during “Operation Got Milk” after a year-long milk heist of over $925,000 worth of milk and another $350,000 worth of crates.
“A million dollars of dairy products is a significant amount, and it was a strategic and coordinated effort to take these products,” said officers from the Miami-Dade Police Department.
According to multiple news sources, the six suspects were employed by the milk distributor Island Dairy, a business associated with McArthur Dairy.
In October 2021, the suspects allegedly began to work their elaborate scheme, systematically pilfering milk by coordinating extra orders with distribution delivery trucks.
One individual would order product, and have a driver meet another party, transferring excess products to the other party. Each crate was reportedly purchased by one of the suspects for $10 per crate, and resold for about $12 per crate.
This is where the dairies began getting suspicious. Reports indicate that Island Dairy conducted their own internal investigation and contacted police after discovering irregularities, kicking off an investigation dubbed “Operation Got Milk.”
Detectives immediately went to work after getting a tip. The police department set up surveillance capturing video footage of the suspects transporting milk from one truck to another truck, and the heist was up.
The suspects face grand theft and organized scheme to defraud charges and include: Eduardo Alvarez, Osleivy Rodriguez, Yohanny Padron, Maikel Rodriguez, Jose Fallayera, and Ihosvany Lopez.
“The message here is that if you do something like this, you are going to get caught,” Miami-Dade Police Detective Luis Sierra told CBS news.
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