Investigators uncover how a group of men stole over $1 million from their Miami-Dade employer

MIAMI – Detectives have accused six men of committing a scam that stole more than $1.27 million worth of products from a milk delivery and retailer in Miami-Dade County since 2021 until recently, police said on Wednesday with.

Some of the men who worked for Island Dairy took advantage of a weakness in the ordering system to hide the fact that police say they loaded more McArthur dairy products into the company’s refrigerated trucks than they reported and delivered.

“Once the drivers were on their way to make the delivery, they would deviate from their pre-determined respective routes, meet up with another person, and load the extra dairy products onto their van,” wrote Detective Luis Sierra.

The department’s Organized Crime Bureau worked on the case after Miami-Dade-based victims, Island Dairy LLC and McArthur Next LLC, conducted an internal investigation and recently reported their findings to police.

Sierra, a police department spokesman, identified the suspects as Jose Fallayera, 56; Eduardo Alvarez, 55; Ihosvany Lopez, 50; Maikel Rodríguez, 46; Yohanny Padron, 38; and Osleivy Rodriguez, 36.

A witness told detectives that Island Dairy trusted Rodriguez, 36, the dispatcher, in ordering the milk cartons for drivers’ daily delivery routes, and investigators found he ordered more for some drivers, according to the arrest report.

Investigators attached GPS monitors to the trucks, followed the drivers and found that the stolen dairy products were regularly being transported without authorisation, police said. Detectives from the Cargo Theft Task Force followed the drivers of the refrigerated trucks on March 10 to confirm the investigation’s findings.

Detectives found Rodriguez, 46, and Alvarez, both Island Dairy drivers, met with Lopez, a buyer, to make the exchange around 5 a.m. March 10 at the Northwest 36 Street and 21 Court area in Allapatah , the police said. Alvarez denied the allegations, but Rodriguez, 46, and Lopez confessed, according to police.

Detectives later arrested Alvarez on March 10 at 1895 SW 8 St. in Little Havana; Fallayera, business partner of Lopez, at his home in Tamiami on March 10; and Padron on March 14 at 240 NW 71 St. in Miami’s Little River neighborhood.

Padron, another driver from Island Dairy, also admitted to secretly selling each case of milk for $10, according to a police report. Lopez, the buyer, confessed to reselling them for $11 to $12 each, according to police reports.

Rodriguez, 36, Rodriguez, 46, Fallayera, Alvarez and Lopez are charged with grand larceny of more than $50,000 in cargo, grand larceny of more than $100,000 and an organized fraud scheme a third-degree crime.

Padron faces charges of first degree grand larceny in excess of $50,000 in cargo and grand larceny third degree.

Rodriguez, 46, a driver,

padron, a driver,

They asked anyone with information about the case to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.