JACKSON, MS – Two individuals with ties to the Venezuelan organized crime syndicate Tren de Araqua pleaded guilty to bank theft, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Lemon of the Southern District of Mississippi and FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Eikhoff this week.

 

According to court documents and statements made in open court, Jesus Rene Cabrera Tobias, 25 and Darwin Javier Delgado, 46, pleaded guilty after being indicted by a federal grand jury for bank theft. On August 8, 2024, Tobias and Delgado stole $21,500 from an ATM machine in Enterprise, Mississippi, by hacking the ATM operating system and disabling the ATM security features by installing a foreign device that allowed them to assume control of the ATM.

 

Surveillance footage from the night of the theft captured Tobias unlock the ATM and open the machine to access the internal system that controlled the ATM operating system and security features. The footage showed that after manipulating the ATM, Tobias returned to their vehicle and retrieved a small electronic device to install within the ATM. After a brief period of manipulating the ATM using the small electronic device, the ATM then emptied money the cash tray. Tobias collected the cash as it was disbursed from the ATM and transferred it to another individual in the vehicle.

 

Investigators identified the suspect vehicle and its owner through the surveillance footage. The registered owner of the vehicle was Delgado. Surveillance footage from a nearby store captured Tobias and Delgado traveling in the suspect vehicle and shopping within the store.

 

The suspect vehicle was stopped the next day in Texas by officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety. Delgado and Cabrera were found in the vehicle and arrested. Two cell phones and clothing matching that worn during the bank theft were recovered. A forensic examination of the cell phones contained photographs and videos from the offense, including multiple videos of the defendants manipulating other ATMs and withdrawing cash. The forensic examination also showed that the photographs and videos taken during the theft contained metadata placing the defendants at the scene of the crime. The ATM hard drive was forensically examined by FBI and was shown to have been compromised with malware that disabled the ATM security features.

 

Tobias and Delgado are citizens of Venezuela. During the investigation, Investigators discovered that Tobias and Delgado committed the theft in coordination with members of the transnational criminal organization Tren de Araqua from Venezuela.

 

“Today’s announcement sends a clear message: Tren de Aragua transnational criminal operations will not be tolerated and the FBI will aggressively pursue TdA’s scourge of criminal activity. Tobias and Delgado brazenly tampered with ATM machines defrauding banks and the American people,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Eikhoff. “These guilty pleas underscore the FBI’s commitment in collaboration with our state and federal partners in identifying, pursuing, disrupting, and dismantling organized crime syndicates, ultimately eradicating TdA’s presence and influence in the U.S.”

 

Tobias is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 10. Delgado is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 7. They face a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment followed by possible deportation. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

 

The FBI investigated the case with assistance from the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office, Meridian Police Department, Decatur Police Department, Enterprise Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samuel Goff and Brett Grantham are prosecuting the case.