Two individuals associated with the Venezuelan organized crime group Tren de Araqua have pleaded guilty to bank theft. Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Lemon of the Southern District of Mississippi and FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Eikhoff announced the pleas.
Jesus Rene Cabrera Tobias, 25, and Darwin Javier Delgado, 46, were indicted by a federal grand jury for stealing $21,500 from an ATM in Enterprise, Mississippi on August 8, 2024. They hacked into the ATM’s operating system and disabled its security features using a foreign device.
FBI surveillance footage showed Tobias unlocking and accessing the ATM’s internal system before installing an electronic device that caused it to dispense cash continuously. The cash was then collected by Tobias and transferred to another individual in their vehicle.
The suspect vehicle was identified through surveillance footage as registered to Delgado. Further footage captured both men traveling in this vehicle and shopping at a nearby store.
The Texas Department of Public Safety stopped the suspect vehicle the following day in Texas, leading to the arrest of Delgado and Cabrera. Two cell phones containing photographs and videos from the theft were recovered during a search of the vehicle. These included metadata placing them at the crime scene.
Tobias and Delgado are Venezuelan citizens who committed this theft with members of Tren de Araqua from Venezuela.
“Today’s announcement sends a clear message: Tren de Aragua transnational criminal operations will not be tolerated,” said FBI Special Agent Robert A. Eikhoff. “These guilty pleas underscore the FBI’s commitment…in identifying, pursuing, disrupting, and dismantling organized crime syndicates.”
Sentencing is scheduled for September 10 for Tobias and October 7 for Delgado; they face up to ten years imprisonment followed by possible deportation.
The case was investigated by multiple agencies including the FBI, Clarke County Sheriff’s Office, Meridian Police Department, Decatur Police Department, Enterprise Police Department, and Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samuel Goff and Brett Grantham are prosecuting.
