MCALLEN -- It was an alleged theft scheme like no other….McAllen police said Oscar Rios and Carlos Sauceda took stolen vehicles, scrapped them and sold the parts to make a profit.
The alleged crime took place at Rios’ salvage yard on Mile 3 in Mission.
McAllen spokesman Sgt. Joel Morales said, “They would take the vehicles to the salvage yard see them on location….the salvage yard operator would then crush the vehicles.”
Investigators say Sauceda was the mastermind behind the operations…stealing five cars from five different cities in Hidalgo County.
“In the process of that investigation another person arrived with a stolen vehicle,” said Morales. “That would be Mr. Sauceda.”
The scheme was broken up by not only the McAllen Police Department and DPS, but also the Hidalgo County Tax Assessor Office.
They have a special department that investigates fraud and locates stolen vehicles.
“There was a lot of fraud and people were being victimized…. that’s why in 2001 we started this department, “said Hidalgo County Tax Assessor-Collector, Armando Barrera.
Barrera said police departments normally call on them for assistance because of their expertise in these types of crime.
“We assess most police departments because they don’t have the expertise in registration laws,” said Barrera.
Since then these types of crimes have decreased.
“They know we’re checking for this so they won’t attempt it,” said Barrera.
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