Florida's crackdown on organized retail theft just caught two Venezuelan illegal aliens red-handed.
Attorney General James Uthmeier's new task force delivered its first major win.
And police were shocked when Venezuelan illegal aliens stuffed $166,000 worth of stolen Ulta perfumes in their pants during a 40-store crime spree.
Uthmeier's Task Force Delivers First Major Arrests
Willy Jesus Diaz Pelayo and Maikol Eduardo Garcia Sanchez never stood a chance once Florida's Retail Theft Investigative Special Task Force locked onto their trail.
The two Venezuelan nationals hit more than 40 Ulta Beauty stores across Florida between January and November 2025, stealing high-end perfumes and colognes they stuffed in their pants before walking out like they owned the place.
Palm Beach Gardens Police worked with the Attorney General's Office of Statewide Prosecution to track the duo's movements from Jacksonville to Miami.
"Bringing together local law enforcement and our Statewide Prosecutors is why we launched the Retail Theft Special Task Force," Uthmeier said. "Retail theft is not a victimless crime; every consumer feels the effects when retailers are forced to raise their prices."
https://twitter.com/AGJamesUthmeier/status/2012169658791592429?s=20
The theft ring wasn't small-time shoplifting.
Pelayo and Sanchez racked up $47,000 in Florida losses alone.
Venezuelan Nationals Face 30 Years Behind Bars
The nationwide operation these two illegal aliens ran hit Ulta Beauty stores from coast to coast.
Total damages reached $166,000 across multiple states.
That's organized crime with international connections running through South American criminal networks the FBI's been tracking for years.
Pelayo got hit with one count of second-degree organized retail theft.
Sanchez faces two counts of the same charge.
Florida's not playing games with sentencing either.
Pelayo's looking at 15 years in prison if convicted.
Sanchez could get 30 years behind bars.
Both men have ICE detainers waiting for them, and they're getting deported straight back to Venezuela after serving their sentences.
https://twitter.com/Floridianpress/status/2012278598200107244?s=20
Florida Taking Stand Against Blue State Retail Crime
Uthmeier launched his Retail Theft Investigative Special Task Force in November 2025 with one goal: stop Florida from becoming California or New York where toothpaste sits locked behind plexiglass.
"Instead of having toothpaste locked behind plexiglass like CA & NY, we are taking decisive action to combat organized retail theft," Uthmeier announced when creating the task force.
https://twitter.com/JamesUthmeierFL/status/1892608629804572984?s=20
The timing couldn't be better.
Retail theft has gone completely insane across America — stores saw shoplifting jump 93% and losses shoot up 90% between 2019 and 2023.
Ulta Beauty got hammered worse than most.
A nationwide crackdown in July 2025 netted hundreds of arrests across 28 states, with Ulta Beauty participating in nine states to provide incident data and suspect profiles to law enforcement.
Two suspects arrested in Boise in May 2025 were linked to 195 Ulta Beauty robberies nationwide with over $100,000 in stolen products.
Another ring busted in Maryland racked up $190,000 in fragrance thefts from Ulta stores between August 2024 and March 2025.
The pattern's clear: foreign criminal organizations in Venezuela and South America have been sending people to America on stealing missions, and the FBI's been documenting it for years.
Florida decided it wasn't waiting for Washington to fix the problem.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 549 in 2024, cranking up penalties for organized retail theft and making certain repeat offenders eligible for 30 years in prison.
Since Uthmeier took office, his prosecutors charged 55 defendants with organized retail theft and secured 52 convictions before this latest bust.
These theft rings hit stores across multiple counties to avoid getting caught, but Uthmeier's statewide prosecutors can now chase them anywhere in Florida with stronger charges.
Senior Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Chris Olowin will prosecute the Pelayo and Sanchez case.
He's got a strong track record.
Florida's sending a message that's being heard in criminal networks from Venezuela to California: steal in the Sunshine State and you're doing serious time.
Every stolen bottle of perfume gets passed along as higher prices at checkout, which is exactly why Uthmeier calls this what it really is — an attack on Florida families trying to afford groceries.
The Venezuelan connection matters because Trump administration officials are investigating whether these theft rings connect to larger criminal organizations like Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang Trump designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
These aren't random shoplifters.
They're organized criminals running sophisticated operations across state lines, often with connections back to governments and cartels in their home countries.
But Florida is not allowing that to happen on Uthmeier's watch.
Sources:
- Frank Kopylov, "Florida AG James Uthmeier announces arrests in organized retail theft scheme targeting Ulta Beauty stores," Florida News, January 16, 2026.
- Sophie Pendrill, "Palm Beach Gardens police help crack nationwide Ulta theft ring involving Venezuelan duo," CBS12, January 16, 2026.
- Michael Costeines, "Uthmeier Announces Arrest of Illegal Aliens in Organized Retail Theft Scheme," The Floridian, January 16, 2026.
- Attorney General James Uthmeier, "Attorney General James Uthmeier Announces Arrests of Illegal Aliens in Organized Retail Theft Scheme," My Florida Legal, January 16, 2026.
- Attorney General James Uthmeier, "Attorney General James Uthmeier Announces Special Investigative Task Force to Combat Organized Retail Theft," My Florida Legal, November 21, 2025.
- "Foreign-run organized theft rings ravaging US retail stores with immigrant shoplifters: FBI," Washington Examiner, December 21, 2023.
- "Hundreds Arrested in First-Ever Nationwide Crackdown on Organized Retail Crime," Security Guard Services, July 15, 2025.
