In the following press release detectives with the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office and Agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s (FDLE) Sebring Field Office announced that they attempted to serve arrest warrants on 10 subjects for charges that include conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to traffic in cannabis, attempt to manufacture cannabis, mortgage fraud and grand theft. Of the ten, as of today 4 have been located and arrested.

The investigation by FDLE and the Sheriff’s Office began April 2008 and stemmed from the 2007 investigations of the marijuana grow houses that were discovered and dismantled in Highlands County. The targets of the investigation reside in the Miami area.

Highlands County law enforcement officials have continued to probe the many marijuana growing operations identified throughout the county over the past couple of years. These ongoing investigations resulted from a joint effort by the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office and FDLE.

“Following the marijuana growing busts, we started looking backward to see how this many grow houses popped up all at once,” said Sheriff Susan Benton. “What we discovered was that through the use of mortgage fraud, these criminals had a means to organize and conspire to commit racketeering and trafficking of marijuana”.

This is the first tier of arrests with more arrests anticipated. Highlands Sheriff’s Detectives and FDLE Agents from the Miami and Fort Myers Regional Operations Centers, which includes the Sebring Field Office, traveled to Miami and conducted an arrest operation of all targets. This particular case is being prosecuted by the Office of Statewide Prosecution in Orlando.

Suspects arrested today and booked into the Miami-Dade Detention Facility are listed below with charges and bonds:

Lesman Chavarria of 3520 NW 79th Street, Lot F-614, Miami, FL 33147.

Yeleines Viera of 5101 Collins Ave #3L, Miami Beach, FL 33140 and 1155 West 77th Street #118W,
Hialeah, FL 33010.

Maria Lurbe of13210 SW 17th Lane Apt 3, Miami, FL 33175

Alexander Yanes of 230 SW 136th Place, Miami, FL 33184

This joint investigation is in the early stages and we look forward to many additional suspects and charges of mortgage fraud.

For Further Information Contact:
Capt. Randy LaBelle Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, 863-402-7200
or Heather Smith/Mike Morrison  FDLE Office of Public Information, 850-410-7001

Update on Friday, October 30, 2009 at 12:58PM by The Editor - Ian Shuter - ACFE, DMS

Armando C. Basulto, 68, of Miami, and Yudelvis Pino, 26, of Miami, were both arrested Wednesday and charged with mortgage fraud and grand theft, with their bonds set at $75,000.