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The Essex County District Attorney's Office announced the charges in what investigators dubbed “Operation Smash & Cash.” The sextet is accused of breaking into at least 12 convenience stores and stealing $50,000 worth of lottery tickets from February through April 2024 and causing thousands of dollars in damages.
The break-ins were reported at convenience stores in Swampscott, Saugus, Wakefield, Peabody, Marblehead, Nashua, New Hampshire, and Seabrook, New Hampshire. They were all similar in approach and execution.
The thieves would often smash the front windows when the store was closed, steal rolls of lottery tickets, and pry open cash registers, the prosecutor said. Police believe they were associates of the Trinitarios gang.
The arrested include:
- David Garcia, 22, of Lynn
- Darwin Batista, 20 of Lynn
- Angel Santos, 24 of Lynn
- Israel Garcia, 22, of Metheun
- Westyn Lantigua, 23, of Lynn
- Aaron Diaz Liranzo, 25, of Revere
Charges ranged from theft of more than $1,200, wanton destruction of property of more than $1,200, receiving stolen property worth more than $1,200, money laundering, and improper use of cred cards for more than $1,200, the prosecutor's office said.
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