Operation Garmin: Officials bust boat GPS theft ring in Monroe County

Ten people were taken into custody Wednesday in Miami-Dade, accused of being part of a sophisticated GPS theft ring with hundreds of victims and millions of dollars worth of property stolen.

The investigation started when Monroe County deputies started seeing an uptick in boats that were being broken into at marinas and boat yards.

“This is a total dismantle of an organized crime ring,” Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said at a news conference Wednesday.

The group is accused of being a criminal enterprise, highly organized and sophisticated at stealing Garmin GPS touch screens from boats.

“This is a well-organized group that won't take no for an answer, don't care about being arrested, and out on bond the next night they're doing it again,” Ramsay said.

After digging around and investigating, Monroe deputies uncovered the massive organized theft ring totaling at least $2.5 million of stolen devices. Ten people were arrested, and an 11th person is on the run.

The suspects face a combined total of at least 122 charges in Monroe County alone.

“This is a long case, the case is not over, but we’re at a critical point where we made a mass amount of arrests," Ramsay said.

The investigation is called Operation Garmin. The sheriff said the crime ring was highly organized with two ring leaders, associates, buyers and sellers. They even have text messages between the suspects coordinating where to hit next and what areas to avoid.

The crime ring allegedly is responsible for many more thefts in South Florida and throughout the state.

“Our message is to continue to try and deter crime," Ramsay said. "We’re trying to send a strong message here in Monroe that you’re more likely to get arrested here, prosecuted, and spend more time in jail."

The suspects will likely face more charges in other counties.