MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Authorities say a man from Miami-Dade County has been arrested in connection with a series of high-end burglaries stretching from New Jersey to South Florida, part of what investigators describe as an organized crime ring responsible for nearly $1 million in stolen merchandise.
The suspect, 41-year-old Rauniel Quintero, was arrested on Tuesday after detectives from multiple agencies — including the Miami Police Department, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, West Miami Police, and Homeland Security Investigations — executed a search warrant at his home in Miami Gardens.
During the raid, which authorities said was conducted near the 18000 block of Northwest 44th Avenue, investigators recovered hundreds of stolen cellphones, designer clothing, vape products and smoke shop items, with an estimated combined value of nearly $1 million.
Authorities said the arrest marks a major break in a months-long investigation that linked several commercial burglaries across Miami-Dade and New Jersey to the same group of suspects.
A September break-in caught on camera
One of those incidents dates back to Sep. 14, when a group of masked men broke into a West Miami clothing store around 4:30 a.m.
According to an arrest report, surveillance footage showed a black Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck reversing into the parking lot before several men got out — two of them carrying small sledgehammers.
The suspects smashed through the glass front door, entered the store, and began filling black 27-gallon plastic totes with high-end clothing.
Police said the thieves worked quickly, stripping racks of merchandise, some still on hangers, before loading the truck bed with stolen garments and speeding away.
Officers later discovered that the truck’s license plate had been flipped upside down — and traced it to a tag that had been reported stolen out of Hallandale Beach.
Through investigative work, detectives tied the vehicle to Quintero and later confirmed that several garments stolen during the West Miami burglary were found inside his Miami Gardens residence during Tuesday’s search.
A similar smash-and-grab in Miami Gardens
Just days after the West Miami incident, a smash-and-grab burglary at Kicked Up Miami, a boutique sneaker and clothing shop in Miami Gardens, was also caught on camera.
The store’s owner, Axel Rosario, said he watched the break-in live from his phone in the early hours of a Sunday morning.
The video showed masked thieves shattering the storefront glass and making off with more than 180 pieces of clothing worth up to $50,000 — all in less than three minutes.
“By the time we got here, it was too late,” Rosario said. “It’s heartbreaking.”
Kicked Up Miami, Rosario said, isn’t just a business — it helps pay for his mother’s stage 4 cancer treatment.
Rosario said the burglary reminded him of another similar incident in Pembroke Pines earlier this year, suggesting the same crew could be responsible.
Authorities later confirmed that both the Miami Gardens, West Miami and Pembroke Pines break-ins shared a distinct modus operandi: nighttime entries, masked suspects, sledgehammers to shatter glass doors, and the use of heavy-duty storage totes to carry stolen goods.
Search leads to recovery of stolen property
Miami detectives on Monday, with assistance from the MDSO’s Special Response Team, executed a court-authorized search warrant at Quintero’s home.
Inside, detectives said they found dozens of boxes of vapes, lighters, clothing, shoes, and cellphones — some still in factory packaging.
They also discovered merchandise tied to a burglary in Piscataway, New Jersey, where roughly $500,000 worth of Samsung phones were stolen from a warehouse on Oct 11.
According to police, Quintero’s vehicle — the same black Dodge Ram seen in the Florida break-ins — was also captured on surveillance video near the New Jersey burglary scene.
They said the phones recovered in Miami Gardens were still labeled with inventory stickers that matched the ones listed in the official Piscataway police report.
Detectives said Quintero was detained inside the home without incident. He declined to provide a statement after being read his Miranda rights.
Jail records show he is facing multiple charges, including burglary while masked, first and second-degree grand theft, and dealing in stolen property.
As of Thursday, he was being held on a $46,000 bond at the Metrowest Detention Center.
No other arrests have been announced at this time. Anyone with information is urged to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
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