Eleven people who authorities said were part of a large metro Denver area car theft ring that shipped stolen cars to Mexico to be used by cartels have been indicted.

The indictments — announced Monday by Attorney General Phil Weiser and Denver District Attorney John Walsh — were filed May 22.

The alleged members worked together to steal vehicles from municipal airport parking lots, hotels and businesses across the Front Range, authorities said in a news release.

The thefts are alleged to have taken place between July 2024 and January 2025. The thefts were mainly of full-sized pickup trucks, trailers and recreational vehicles. The thefts took place in Adams, Boulder, Douglas, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld counties, as well as in Denver. The cars weren’t tracked immediately as stolen by plate readers because owners didn’t report them stolen from airports until days later when they returned from trips.

“This indictment targets a car-theft organization that is alleged to have been operating on an international scale, with ties extending well beyond Colorado’s borders — but its impact has been felt in neighborhoods and communities across the Denver metro area and the Front Range,” Walsh said in the news release.

In total, 41 vehicles worth over $900,000 were stolen, according to authorities.

Walsh said car thefts in Denver have been going down: In 2026, there were 28 percent fewer cars stolen in the city compared to this time last year and more than 50 percent fewer than over the past three years.

Many have attributed the decline to a 2023 law adopted by legislators in response to soaring car thefts in Colorado. Previously, the severity of criminal offenses for auto thefts depended on the value of the stolen vehicle — ranging from a Class 1 misdemeanor for a car worth $2,000 or less to a Class 3 felony for a car worth $100,000 or more. The new law removed the value-based system and made all auto thefts a felony.

The 11 defendants face a total of 52 counts, including racketeering and conspiracy under the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, second-degree motor vehicle theft, attempted motor vehicle theft, theft and forgery. The cases are filed in Jefferson County and will be jointly prosecuted by the Denver District Attorney’s Office, the attorney general’s office and the First Judicial District Attorney’s office.

Authorities identified the suspects below:

• Yulian Zamarron-Baylon
• Geomar Gomez-Hernandez
• Yester Sagastume-Leyva
• Qurino Vialpando
• Jose Munoz-Miranda
• Jovana Robles-Garcia
• Trinadette Jazmine Rangel
• Juan Lopez-Sambrano
• Jonathan Cisneros
• Sabino Munoz
• Primo Borjon-Ramirez

They did not release the ages of the defendants.