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A Cuban citizen was arrested this Tuesday by the Miami-Dade County authorities, after being accused along with two others of stealing packages repeatedly in an apartment complex in the Dadeland area and of fraudulently using a stolen credit card.
Ariadnis Mejías, 37 years old and a resident of Miami, voluntarily surrendered at the Kendall district police station and is facing three charges of burglary, one for fraudulent use of a credit card for an amount exceeding 100 dollars, and three additional charges for petty theft, according to the arrest report.
At the time of his surrender, Mejías had seven pending arrest warrants for serious charges of robbery and petty theft while he was out on bail, which demonstrates a recurring pattern.
The investigation into the case began after a resident of the Motion at Dadeland building, located at 8400 S. Dixie Highway, reported the theft of a replacement bank card that had been delivered on March 31 to the building's package room, which is secured by a passcode.
The thefts were committed on three different occasions in March. On the 18th of that month, Mejías and an accomplice identified as Luis Sánchez Blen accessed the room using a code from the delivery company Luxor One and stole between six and eight packages, which were placed inside a green bag that they also took from the premises.
Four days later, on March 22, Mejías returned alone, accessed the site using the same code, and took three additional packages.
On March 31, Mejías and another co-defendant, who has not yet been identified, entered the building following a resident. The surveillance cameras captured the Cuban hiding packages under her shirt and at her waist before leaving the room.
Among the items stolen that day was a replacement bank card whose delivery had been confirmed just hours earlier. The victim received a notification that same night regarding fraudulent purchases made with the card.
The building manager confirmed that none of the individuals captured by the surveillance cameras were residents of the complex.
The images from the cameras of a Macy's store, obtained on May 12 by detectives, show Mejías and another woman using the stolen credit card to purchase items worth $444.05.
The investigation was assigned on April 20, and Mejías' identity was confirmed on the 29th, with the assistance of a detective from the city of Doral, suggesting that his criminal activities extended beyond the Dadeland area.
According to the affidavit, Mejías' attorney contacted the investigators on May 4 and informed them that she would surrender, invoking her right to legal counsel. After her arrest, she was transferred to the Turner Guilford Knight (TGK) Correctional Center in Miami.
The arrest report indicates that Luis Sánchez Blen, 48 years old, was detained on May 7 as a co-defendant in the robbery that occurred on March 18.
This case adds to a series of arrests for package theft in Miami-Dade that have involved Cuban citizens, including a couple detained in April for thefts in a luxury condominium in Edgewater and a young woman arrested in January for stealing packages in Hialeah.
Also in April, a couple of Cubans residing in Hialeah were arrested for theft of dozens of checks, valued at approximately $47,000, from mailboxes in neighborhoods in the central-east part of Florida.
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