Two Cubans from Miami arrested for stealing mailboxes

Two Cuban residents in Miami werearrested after being caught red-handed stealing mail from mailboxes from a neighborhood in Indian River County, Florida, in the early hours of last Tuesday.

Yasniel Acosta Prieto, 28 years old, andAriel Echevarria Borges, 37 years old, had in their possessionmore than 50 pieces of mail, including checks, bank statements and personal documents, when they were discovered by deputies from the county Sheriff's Office (IRCSO), according to astatement Of the entity.

Officers recovered stolen mail from the vehicle from the states of Texas and Alabama.

Indian River Police were alerted by a resident of a Vero Beach neighborhood who noticed a suspicious vehicle loitering in the area and moving slowly near mailboxes. Concerned about the unusual activity, the neighbor called the authorities.

Thanks to the information, the agents were able to intercept the vehicle of the suspects who, confused by the sudden arrest,They were unable to provide a convincing explanation for the abundance of stolen mail found in their possession.. Acosta and Echevarría were arrested outside the home located at 3350 13th Street Vero Beach.

Both suspects each face one count ofpossession of personally identifiable information of five or more people, severalfelony theft charges andcriminal use of personally identifiable information, according to arrest reports.

Acosta and Echevarría were booked into the Indian River County Jail and each was sentenced tobail of $180,000.

In recent months, cases of several Cubans involved in mail theft crimes in Florida have been reported.

Miguel Hernández Sánchez, 30, and Dafne María Roldán, 29, were arrested in Miami last January, accused of stealing mail from several homes on Sunset Drive.

OtherCuban was surprised and recorded by a driver while walking through a residential area of Miami and searching the mailboxes of the homes. The driver called the police and the suspect ran from the scene.

Hialeah residents reported last December that there were proliferations ofthieves who stole the mail, around the Christmas holidays.

In 2021,Yunior Blanco Pedroso, 26 years old and resident of Miami, wassentenced to 10 years in prison for serial theft of postal packages from porches and mailboxes domestic in South Florida.