Two workers at a UPS facility in Doral, Miami-Dade, were arrested on Thursday, August 13, accused of orchestrating a systematic scheme to steal electronics that is said to have caused losses exceeding $100,000 since April 2025.
The arrested individuals are Jose Divine Fernandes Correia, 52 years old, a resident of Pembroke Pines; and Ruth Cristaldo, 53 years old, according to authorities, as reported in a report from NBC Miami.
Both worked the night shift at the facility located at 13350 NW 17th Street: Fernandes Correia as a package handler and Cristaldo as a merchandise control employee.
How did the scheme work?
According to the arrest reports, the modus operandi was meticulous and coordinated between both employees.
Fernandes Correia identified in the cargo area the packages that contained high-value electronic devices — Apple and Samsung phones, tablets, and laptops — removed the original tracking labels, extracted the equipment, and discarded the empty boxes.
Cristaldo, using his access credentials to the company's internal system, generated fraudulent shipping labels and repackaged items in different boxes, which were then processed and dispatched the following morning.
The altered packages were sent to two addresses on Northwest 33rd Street in Miami, using names of seemingly legitimate companies: Barnes & Noble, Amazon, JC Electronics, and JC Auto Parts.
According to Local 10, Cristaldo generated more than 198 fraudulent tags since April 2025 using his access credentials.
The operations that caught them
The investigation was initiated by UPS's internal security and the Organized Retail Crime Squad of the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office, following reports from multiple senders regarding package losses.
On Tuesday, August 11, after observing on surveillance cameras how the suspects handled a package, the investigators went to the facility and found a tampered box containing 10 Apple MacBook laptops and three Bose headphones, valued at approximately $10,000, that was addressed to Barnes & Noble.
On Wednesday, August 12, they repeated the operation and found another package containing 40 Apple iPhones —models 16 and 17— and two Samsung Galaxy phones, with an estimated value of $45,000, consigned to a business linked to Amazon.
That second package was intercepted by UPS security before it reached the delivery person.
Moreover, the investigators found at least 10 additional packages hidden in the facility's goods control area, still unlabeled.
The two employees were arrested on Thursday while they were working their regular shift at the Doral facility.
The company reacted promptly and decisively to the events.
“UPS has no tolerance for theft. People no longer work for the company,” said a UPS spokesperson.
The two arrested individuals are facing charges of organized fraud of $50,000 or more and second-degree grand theft.
A judge set each of their bails at $20,000 on Friday, August 14, one day after their arrest.
A pattern that repeats in South Florida
This case is not an isolated incident, but rather part of a documented pattern of internal thefts within the logistics chain in South Florida.
In May of this year, two teenage employees of a UPS store in Miami Lakes were arrested for stealing 80 boxes of merchandise valued at $40,000.
In June, a UPS driver in Hialeah was accused of stealing a $55,000 Rolex from a package in transit during his delivery route.
In July, a former employee of FedEx Freight surrendered to the police for stealing over $31,000 in Apple products intended for retail stores in Miami-Dade.
The Organized Retail Crime Squad of the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office has been the investigative body in several of these cases, reflecting the magnitude and systematic nature of the problem in the region.
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