4 charged with stealing hundreds of GPS devices from Cape May, NJ boatyard

Four people from Florida have been charged with stealing over 300 GPS devices from boats at New Jersey docks worth more than $300,000 over the past four years and selling them in the Sunshine State.

New Jersey State Police have charged Mizael Alfonso, 47, Marie Frometa Rodriguez, 41, Manuel Barbosa Mendiluza, 58, and Ciro Perez Martinez, 29, all from Miami, with stealing high-end GPS devices from marine vessels across multiple states along the East Coast.

During the two-year probe, detectives linked the foursome to more than $300,000 worth of stolen systems in South Jersey.

The investigation began in 2019 when marine electronics went missing from a boatyard in Cape May County. Troopers contacted the owner's insurance company and discovered that similar claims were filed in New Jersey, North Carolina, and Massachusetts.

The suspects would enter the yards after hours, remove the GPS systems, then travel back to Miami to sell them.

In January, arrest warrants were issued after troopers linked them to more than 300 thefts of the GPS units. Alfonso and Rodriguez were busted at a motel in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and were extradited to New Jersey in March.

Barbosa and Perez were arrested in Miami in October and extradited last month.

All four were charged with theft, conspiracy to commit theft/burglary, and burglary.