Police: Brothers Busted For Drugs, ID Theft & Credit Card Fraud
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- A stash of illegally-purchased Apple products, dozens of fake credit cards, pounds of marijuana and cocaine, and thousands in cash were all confiscated in an early morning raid by the Miami-Dade Police Department and Secret Service.
Two brothers, Jose and Oscar Torres, were cuffed and taken into custody at their home on N.W. 180th Terrace and 89th Place.
Investigators say the duo was stealing identities and using their information to set up phony credit cards and go shopping.
"They took other people's account information, they added themselves and they produced counterfeit ID's and one of them went shopping to local retailers here in South Florida," said Detective Marcos Rodriguez. "They have over $18,000 worth of Apple products. Today, alone, in one shopping spree, they purchased $8,000 in Apple products."
Investigators got tipped off to the scheme by an employee at a store in Doral who got suspicious when he noticed one of the brothers repeatedly buy pricey Apple merchandise in bulk.
"Buying 10 to 15 iPads, phones, all at the same time and they were using credit cards to make these purchases," said Rodriguez.
Undercover officers say they followed the brothers and busted them with the stash of stolen products, counterfeit cards and drugs.
"In possession of six pounds of marijuana, a quarter kilo of cocaine. The street value of cocaine was over $15,000 and over $20,000 in marijuana," Rodriguez added.
The brothers are facing numerous fraud and drug-related charges.