Three men have been charged in the 2014 theft of a tractor-trailer load of hydrocodone pills, Georgia authorities said.
The three suspects swiped the truck and trailer from a Pilot truck stop in Cartersville, Ga., on July 22, 2014, according to a news release from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The GBI said the multimillion-dollar shipment of hydrocodone was being transported through Georgia on Interstate 75. The three men followed the truck driver and eventually stole the truck and trailer.
Bartow County deputies and Georgia state troopers tracked the trailer and tried to stop the truck, which led to a pursuit. Eventually the driver stopped in an industrial park, abandoned the cargo, and fled on foot. When investigators searched the truck, they found multiple GPS jamming devices along with other evidence which later connected the men to the theft, the GBI release said.
Agency investigators on Thursday arrested Felipe Hurtado, of Colorado Springs, Colo., in that city, the release said. The other two suspects, Yosvany Cordero and Yolandy Linares Machado, were already in custody in Dalton, Georgia on unrelated cargo theft charges, the release stated.
Cruz, Cordero, and Machado were each charged with three counts of cargo theft, trafficking in controlled substances, fleeing and attempting to elude police, and possession of tools for the commission of a crime.
Investigators believe others were involved and expect to make more arrests in the future. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the GBI Major Theft Unit at 770-918-6772.