Major agricultural theft involving a cartel uncovered in the Central Valley

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — The sheriffs of Tulare, Merced and Fresno County on Tuesday announced a major agricultural crime crackdown spanning the Central Valley.

They say cartels are stealing farm equipment and taking it to Mexico.

Officers have recovered dozens of stolen heavy farm equipment linked to ‘Operation Tractor Pull’.

Authorities say they have now made six arrests, the latest on Tuesday morning.

They are still looking for five additional suspects wanted for crimes over the past year.

“This is a major theft that is impacting our farmers, our ranchers and our agricultural community,” said Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux.

Boudreaux said some of the men have criminal histories tied to drug trafficking.

He said they are now stealing the heavy equipment and taking it across the southern border for use in Mexico.

A total of 24 tractors, backhoes and excavators have been recovered, but investigators say 8 to 10 pieces of equipment are in Mexico and considered unrecoverable.

Sheriff Vern Warnke says agricultural crimes impact everyone because they drive up product prices and help criminals make profits.

“Not only have the cartels been involved in human trafficking, narcotics and weapons, they have now also hit our agricultural community, where everyone here likes to go to the store and grab something to eat,” said Warnke.

Sheriffs say because this is not considered a violent crime in California, prosecutors will have a hard time keeping these suspects behind bars.

“We can’t put them in jail for an extended period of time without accountability,” Boudreaux said.

Boudreaux added that they are working with border patrols and are calling on the federal government to work with the Mexican government to tackle criminals impacting the way of life of citizens in both countries.

Follow Nic Garcia for news updates Facebook, Tweet And Instagram.