By Esther Fung
On a cold afternoon in December, a man wheeled a black luggage into a phone-repair shop in Brooklyn and handed the bag to the employee behind the counter.
About 40 minutes later, another man entered carrying a large plastic bag and left without it. Later that day, a third man entered the small store carrying two large bags and handed them to the same employee.
The destination was Wyckoff Wireless, a nondescript store tucked along a street of bodegas, bakeries and other small businesses whose fronts are decorated with graffiti. It looked like many other mom-and-pop shops around New York City -- except federal agents were surveilling the scene, as they later recounted in a criminal complaint.
They suspected the wireless shop was a fence, or middleman, that authorities say was being used to move thousands of stolen iPhones. Last month, federal authorities arrested 13 people in connection with what they say was an international crime ring that targeted FedEx deliveries nationwide.
Porch thefts aren't new, but they have become increasingly sophisticated. There was a spree last year -- captured on doorbell cameras -- where thieves stole iPhones just moments after they were dropped on front steps. They knew when the packages were coming and what was inside.
The Wyckoff Wireless case reveals how authorities say they did it: by harnessing technology and old-fashioned bribery.
The group created software to scrape FedEx tracking numbers and bribed AT&T store employees to get order details and delivery addresses, according to a criminal complaint filed in New Jersey. The group then sent thieves to pick off the packages and bring them back to destinations like the Brooklyn shop.
The software was created by Demetrio Reyes Martinez, who is known online as "CookieNerd," according to the complaint. The 37-year-old wrote code to get around FedEx limits on delivery-data requests and sold it via Telegram with instructions on how to run the program, prosecutors said.
Reyes Martinez, a citizen and resident in the Dominican Republic, is still in the Caribbean nation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey, which declined to provide further information on his status. He couldn't be reached for comment, and it couldn't be determined if he has retained a lawyer.
An AT&T store employee in Paterson, N.J., Alejandro Then Castillo, used his employment credentials to track hundreds of shipments that were subsequently reported stolen in transit, prosecutors said. He took photos of customers' names, addresses and tracking numbers and shared them with the criminal group, according to the complaint.
He also worked with another store employee in Fort Lee, N.J., and recruited other employees at the cellular carrier, prosecutors said. Law-enforcement officials believe Then Castillo was receiving $2,000 to $2,500 if he recruited other employees.
Mark Bailey, an attorney for Then Castillo, didn't respond to requests for comment.
The crime ring included dispatchers who managed runners, providing them with delivery addresses and instructions to steal the packages when a FedEx truck showed up. Runners traveled around the country to steal devices including Samsung phones, Apple watches and AirTags.
When the group operated further west, such as Colorado and Oklahoma, the runners shipped stolen devices in bulk back to Wyckoff Wireless. The stolen devices were then shipped overseas for sale and activation abroad, according to the complaint.
The owner of the Wyckoff Wireless store, Joel Suriel, 31, nicknamed "La Melma" was one of the individuals charged with conspiracy to transport and receive stolen property. In 2018, Suriel pleaded guilty to wire-fraud conspiracy in a scheme where stolen customer identities were used to acquire cellphones from AT&T.
Suriel had been on supervised release, according to the complaint. He is currently in police custody, said Peter Katz, a lawyer who represented Suriel in recent bail proceedings. Katz said Suriel is no longer his client, and a new lawyer for Suriel couldn't be identified.
FedEx and AT&T said they cooperated with the investigation, which involved the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, local police departments, and a prosecutor's office in the Dominican Republic specializing in high-tech crimes. The complaint said other delivery companies and wireless providers were also targeted.
"With bad actors growing increasingly sophisticated, the shipping industry has been proactively working with law enforcement to address the rise of porch piracy," said a FedEx spokeswoman, adding that the company adapts its processes to protect drivers and packages.
On one occasion in October, two of the runners entered a FedEx store in Illinois to deliver a package and declared its contents as "baby clothes." FedEx security later inspected the box, found stolen iPhones and seized them. The following day when the package arrived empty, one of the men complained to FedEx customer service that his iPhones had been stolen, according to the complaint.
An AT&T spokesman said that the company regularly updates its processes and employee training based on evolving criminal tactics and that it offers options for its customers to control how their shipments are secured.
"We've seen a significant reduction in these incidents as we have worked with delivery companies and law enforcement to combat them," the spokesman said.
In February, law-enforcement officials raided the Wyckoff Wireless store, closing off the street and bringing sniffer dogs to search the premises. Neighbors said the police searched the walls and ceiling and walked out with large boxes. The store has been closed since.
Write to Esther Fung at esther.fung@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 18, 2025 09:00 ET (13:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments