Houston Police Detail Large Stolen Vehicle Bust, Says Numbers Are Trending Down

Houston police are speaking out for the first time about a major car theft bust that allegedly stretched far beyond the city — pulling stolen vehicles from as far away as Nebraska and Minnesota.

The investigation centered on Weberville Boat and RV Storage, in the 5400 block of Almeda Genoa. Last Thursday, HPD and several other agencies arrested five people in connection with what court records describe as a sophisticated car theft operation: Gerald Gamboa, Khiem Danh, Luis Leal, Joseph Granados, and Tori Aguilar.

How the Ring Operated

According to Sgt. Ben LeBlanc of HPD's Auto Theft Division, suspects allegedly used a well-known method to disguise stolen vehicles and resell them to unsuspecting buyers.

"Some common things that we see that they do with these is they switch the VIN numbers on them. They put a fictitious VIN number on there, and then they resell them. They will list them on places such as OfferUp or Facebook Marketplace and sell these vehicles to an unassuming buyer that has no idea they're buying an actual stolen vehicle." — Sgt. Ben LeBlanc, HPD Auto Theft Division

Court records show Aguilar was found with 10 blank key fobs, along with equipment police say could be used to alter license plates and VIN numbers. LeBlanc said suspects would reprogram the fobs to create working keys for the stolen cars.

"They will reprogram a key fob later on down the road so that they have basically a new key to start the vehicle and use it as their own." — Sgt. Ben LeBlanc

Cars Traced Across State Lines

A man in Nebraska told ABC13 he was shocked to learn his stolen GMC Denali had turned up in Houston. Police say the same theft ring allegedly took vehicles from Minnesota as well, including an Audi SUV.

A judge ordered all five defendants to stay away from each other and from the storage facility as a condition of bail. At Gamboa's court appearance, a judge noted he claimed to have simply been a passenger in one of the vehicles.

"The defendant is alleged in this incident to be a passenger in a vehicle he said he was invited to get into some stuff from a friend, which in all honesty is colloquially understood to be illegal activity." — Presiding Judge

The Good News: Houston Theft Numbers Are Down

Despite this high-profile bust, the broader trend is moving in the right direction. According to HPD, there have been 4,435 stolen vehicle cases from January through the end of June 2026 — down from 6,755 during the same period last year. In Harris County, the sheriff's department reports 1,646 cases through June this year, compared to 2,538 last year.

Most-Stolen Vehicles in Houston

LeBlanc said General Motors models remain the top target for thieves, with Corvettes recently seeing an uptick.

"The General Motors vehicles, we do see those are some of our most heavily stolen vehicles. We've seen an uptick in the Corvettes being stolen as well. But we have just as many Dodges, we have Mercedes — pretty much every make and model gets stolen." — Sgt. Ben LeBlanc