Nationwide criminal ring stole nearly $5 million worth of cars from DFW Airport, police say

A car theft ring with international ties has stolen nearly $5 million worth of vehicles from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, according to a new search warrant obtained by NBC 5.

DFW Airport Police said the arrest of the group’s leader last month helped officials unravel the multi-state conspiracy.

Last fall, NBC 5 reported on a rise in car thefts from DFW Airport. At the time, officials told us, “Investigators do believe there is an element of crime rings behind many of the thefts.”

On Wednesday, NBC 5 received confirmation: A search warrant filed in Tarrant County showed that the DFW Airport Police had identified a nationwide crime group stealing vehicles from the airport.

The document said police have been investigating the ring based in Houston since last February.

“Approximately 14 suspects have been identified…the suspects in this group have stolen approximately 52 cars from DFW, for a total loss of $4.9 million,” an investigator said in the document.

“When I checked under my TollTag account, I saw that on Saturday night, it was on a tollway in Houston on a Harris County toll road,” Chaz Mady told NBC 5 in November 2023.

The document said the group had been stealing cars from the airport from early 2023 to last month.

Last November, we spoke to Mady, whose truck had been stolen from a DFW Airport garage while he was traveling. He said the theft had turned him off from parking at the airport in the future.

“The last thing I want to do when I come home is worry if my car is still in the garage or not,” said Mady.

In the search warrant, investigators said they’ve arrested three suspects, including the leader of the ring, writing, “Yoel Hernandez-Frometa uses Autel devices to reprogram key fobs so he can steal vehicles.”

Police said the ring targeted other airports in Texas, New Mexico, Utah and Nevada.

“What we have seen is that the crime is getting more and more sophisticated as technology progresses,” Tarleton State criminologist Alex Del Carmen told NBC 5 in September.

According to court documents, the thieves would change Vehicle Identification Numbers, illegally retitle the cars, and then sell them, and often take them across the border to Mexico.

Criminal experts have told NBC 5 that as the Metroplex grows, nationwide criminal rings will likely target the DFW area.

“We’ve seen an increase of what appears to be more sophisticated crime, more crime that has ties internationally and throughout the United States,” said Del Carmen.

In situations where you must leave your car parked somewhere long term, experts said drivers could use tools like a wheel lock as an extra security measure to prevent theft.

In a new statement today, leaders of DFW airport said, “Investigators with the DFW Airport Department of Public Safety remain in close contact with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to identify and disrupt organized crime rings targeting airport parking facilities throughout the country. Due to the work of DFW Airport Police, the airport has seen a more than 40% reduction in car thefts from the terminal areas so far this year compared with 2023.”