Three people have been arrested in the theft of thousands of undelivered Amazon packages, Oklahoma investigators say.
In addition to the thousands of packages found scattered throughout an Oklahoma home, 600 more were found dumped last week about 30 miles northeast of downtown Oklahoma City, McClatchy News reported earlier this week. Within the rubble of packages was a clue — a garbage bag that contained an envelope with an address on it, the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office said.
As deputies investigated the packages they found dumped in rural Oklahoma County, they received a warrant to search a home about three miles away.
Inside the home were “thousands of undelivered Amazon packages; some still wrapped on pallets in the home,” deputies said. The packages filled the home and were even in the storm shelter.
“Literally, we recovered thousands of packages yesterday that a 26-foot U-Haul box truck that they brought out there was packed completely full,” Capt. Robert Tye told KFOR.
Deputies say Cesar Yasnier Cerqueira Rojas was working as a third-party driver for Amazon and was delivering packages in a truck owned by Dinneris Matos Delgado. Rojas is believed to have “loaded extra pallets onto the truck before bringing them to the home and opening them there.”
Rojas and Delgado were both arrested, as was Maikel Perez Laurencio, who is also a third-party driver, the sheriff’s office said. All three face 15 felony counts of possession of stolen property and embezzlement, according to deputies.
Additional sites where packages were dumped were also uncovered by the Luther Police Department, it announced Wednesday, Jan. 5.
Earlier this week, deputies encouraged people missing items to not contact the sheriff’s office, McClatchy News reported.
“We are thankful for the quick investigative work of the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office and are committed to taking care of any customers who may have been impacted by this criminal activity,” an Amazon spokesperson said, according to the sheriff’s office. “Customers missing packages are encouraged to report any delays to Amazon customer service so we can work quickly to make it right.”
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