Federal Indictment Charges Santa Clarita Man, 6 Others with Facilitating Crime Tourism

Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko and Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff joined United States Attorney Martin Estrada, and FBI Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis, along with our law enforcement task force partners, announcing federal charges against six individuals. These individuals are accused of running a rental car agency that facilitated "crime tourists" using rental cars to break into homes and businesses in Ventura County, Los Angeles, Orange, and cities across Southern California, causing over $35 million in damages.

Law enforcement today arrested six defendants that a federal grand jury charged in a 46-count indictment alleging a Santa Clarita Valley man facilitated a crime tourism group of South Americans and other individuals who engaged in burglaries, thefts, and other crimes throughout the United States, then laundered millions of dollars in illicit proceeds.

According to the indictment, Juan Carlos Thola-Duran, 57, a.k.a. “Parcero,” of Canyon Country, and his live-in girlfriend, Ana Maria Arriagada, 41, a.k.a. “Parcera,” controlled and operated defendant Driver Power Rentals (DPR), a Van Nuys-based car rental or dealership business. Arriagada was DPR’s registered owner.

“Driver Power Rentals provided cars that were allegedly used to take high-end merchandise and jewelry from Ventura County homeowners,” said Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko. “Taking down a key operator who fueled crime tourism is essential to neighborhood safety, and I am grateful to U.S. Attorney Estrada and his team for aggressively prosecuting this network.”

READ MORE: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/...