Florida authorities have arrested five suspected members of the violent gang Tren de Aragua after a series of shameless retail thefts. In a viral moment, the Sheriff who arrested the man showed off a photo of one of the gangsters weeping hysterically in his mugshot, and took the opportunity to mock the criminals who thought he could take advantage of American citizens.
For context, Tren de Aragua is a dangerous Venezuelan gang that recently made the news when Trump attempted to deport TDA members using the Alien Enemies Act. However, the move was blocked by federal judge James Boasberg, which led to weeks of highly contentious legal battles.
In any case, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office released a written statement on April 18, 2025, explaining the case. The document read, “A group of criminal illegal aliens committing organized theft crimes in the central Florida area have been arrested by Polk County Sheriff’s Organized Retail Crime Unit detectives…In early March 2025, store personnel at the Sam’s Club in north Lakeland contacted law enforcement regarding a group of five suspects who forcibly attempted to steal a shopping cart filled with high-end liquor valued at $3,200.00.”
After a failed robbery, the authorities found ID papers belonging to several of the conspirators. The press release added, “Two of the suspects were positively identified and detectives determined they were incarcerated in Osceola County for a different robbery. Those suspects are Samuel Oglis David Anthony Charle, 25, and Ildemaro Miguel Escalona Mendoza, 26.”
Listing out the other men charged with the crime spree, He said, “Once the three other suspects were identified – Alexis Jose Rodriguez-Benavides, 27, Darwins Smith Vasquez Leon, 28, and Ramon Jesus Carpintero-Luna, 26 – PCSO detectives obtained arrest warrants charging all five with robbery.”
Describing the criminal records of the robbers, the document said, “All of the suspects are in the United States illegally from Venezuela…The suspects are linked to over three dozen retail thefts across the central Florida area in five judicial districts, with total losses estimated at over $30,000. The suspects have criminal histories including immigration violations, thefts, robbery, drug possession, resisting arrest, fraudulent use of and possession of personal identification, false reports to law enforcement, robbery with a firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, [and] domestic violence.”
In the video, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd showed off one of the thief’s mug shots. He said, “So I want to share something with you, Ramon Luna. You see, they’re all some of them are smiling here, but I want to focus on picture of Ramon Luna. You see, it’s not such a happy time in life as he knew it was over.”
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Asking a rhetorical question to the camera, he said, “Is he crying because he can’t steal from Americans anymore? Is he crying because he can’t rob people in the middle of the night anymore? Is he crying because he can’t rip off high-end liquor? This is the end of the road for him and his companions. I hope he has his traveling clothes on, because we want to charge them with racketeering and send them to state prison for a very long time, and then deport them. ”
Featured image from embedded video