Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Aids in Multi-Jurisdictional Arrests for Stolen Checks
MINDEN, Nev. (Dec. 2, 2025)––On April 15, 2024, at 11:55 p.m., a Douglas County Sheriff’s Office patrol deputy stopped a suspicious vehicle in Gardnerville, Nevada. A search of the vehicle resulted in the recovery of a large amount of mail that had been stolen from U.S. Post Office mailboxes throughout the Northern Nevada region. Many of the pieces of mail contained personal checks addressed to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The grand total of the stolen checks added up to $507,489.42.
The mail was stolen using a device with a glue rat trap attached to the end. The suspects inserted the device into the mailbox opening, allowing the adhesive trap to latch onto mail, which they then pulled out.
The male and female occupants of the vehicle, both from Southern California, were arrested on multiple local charges and booked into the DCSO Minden Jail. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) subsequently placed holds on both suspects due to their undocumented status.
The DCSO Investigations Division coordinated with the Reno Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to continue the case, as the suspects appeared to be part of a larger criminal enterprise.
The Reno HSI Office has been working on the case since April 2024 and discovered the two suspects arrested by DCSO were part of a Transnational Criminal Organization. Reno HSI, with the assistance of Los Angeles HSI and other allied California Law Enforcement Agencies, secured federal indictments on six individuals in the Southern California area.
On Nov. 25, 2025, Reno HSI and Los Angeles HSI executed arrest warrants and a residential search warrant in Los Angeles, which resulted in three arrests.
In addition to the Reno HSI and Los Angeles HSI, the following law enforcement agencies were involved in the complex investigation: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Sacramento HSI, Concord Police Department, Benicia Police Department, and Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
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