A man from Rialto and another from Upland were among seven criminals who pulled off the what is believed to be the largest jewelry theft and armored car robbery in U.S. history, it was revealed this week.
Both of the thieves from San Bernardino County are in custody as is one of the others. Four remain at large.
The heist took place in Lebec just off the I-5 Freeway, 72 miles north of Los Angeles a little less than three years ago after the gang trailed an armored truck carrying valuables that had been on display during an international jewelry trade show in the San Francisco Bay Area.
On June 11, a federal indictment was returned naming seven defendants, those being:
• Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado, 31, of Pasadena;
• Jazael Padilla Resto, a.k.a. “Ricardo Noel Moya,” “Ricardo Barbosa,” and “Alberto Javier Loza Chamorro,” 36, of Boyle Heights
• Pablo Raul Lugo Larroig, a.k.a. “Walter Loza,” 41, of Rialto;
• Victor Hugo Valencia Solorzano, 60, of the Rampart Village neighborhood of Los Angeles;
• Jorge Enrique Alban, 33, of South Los Angeles;
• Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores, 42, of Upland; and
• Eduardo Macias Ibarra, 36, of the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Padillo Resto was already an inmate in Arizona state prison, where he is serving a prison sentence for third-degree burglary in a matter unrelated to the massive jewel theft.
Lugo Larroig and Presilla Flores were taken into custody last week. At the same time, search warrants were served and a portion of the $100 million in jewelry stolen nearly three years ago was recovered.
Each of the seven are charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit theft from interstate and foreign shipment and theft from interstate and foreign shipments.
Mestanza Cercado, Padillo Resto, Lugo Larroig, Valencia Solorzano and Alban are also charged with two counts of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, as well as interference with commerce by robbery.
According to the indictment, on the evening of July 10, 2022, Mestanza Cercado, Lugo Larroig, and Alban scouted a Brinks semitruck leaving an international jewelry show in San Mateo, California with 73 bags containing millions of dollars worth of jewelry. From the evening of July 10 to the morning of July 11, Mestanza Cercado, Padilla Resto, Lugo Larroig, Valencia Solorzano, Presilla Flores, Macias Ibarra, and other yet unidentified co-conspirators followed the Brinks truck 297 miles south from that jewelry show in San Mateo to rest stops in Buttonwillow and Lebec.
While the truck was stopped in Lebec, those defendants stole 24 bags from the Brinks truck containing approximately $100 million worth of jewelry. In the following days, Mestanza Cercado,, Presilla Flores, Alban, Lugo Larroig and Valencia Solorzano all deactivated their cellphone numbers that they had been using during the heist.
Mestanza Cercado,, Padilla Resto, Lugo Larroig, and Valencia Solorzano are also alleged to have stolen $240,573 worth of Samsung electronics from an interstate cargo shipment in Ontario on March 2, 2022. Those same defendants, and Alban, allegedly then robbed a box truck driver of $57,377 worth of Apple AirTags. One of the robbers brandished a knife and threatened the driver.
Then, on May 25, 2022, the defendants allegedly attempted to steal from one truck at a Fontana rest stop using a crowbar to break in. Shortly after, the same defendants successfully stole approximately $14,081 worth of Samsung electronics from another interstate shipment in Fontana.
It was after the May 25, 2025 operation that the gang began to focus on the jewelry extravaganza in San Mateo. The Sentinel was told at least six of the men spent three days making close scrutiny of the jewelry show, watching to see how the eventual booty was being handled once the displays were taken down, prior to following the Brinks truck during the evening of July 10, 2022.
If convicted, Mestanza Cercado, Padilla Resto, Lugo Larroig Valencia, and Alban would face statutory maximum sentences of 20 years in federal prison for each robbery charge, and all defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for the theft conspiracy charge and 10 years in federal prison for each theft charge.
The FBI, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Fontana Police Department, and the Ontario Police Department are yet involved in investigating the matter.