The San Mateo Seven: The Anatomy of America’s Largest Jewelry Heist

It has all the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster: a patient, professional crew, a high-value target carrying a fortune in jewels, a 300-mile pursuit down the spine of California, and a dramatic, late-night robbery with a haul so massive it boggles the mind. But the indictment of seven Southern California men in the 2022 Brinks truck heist reveals a story that is less “Ocean’s 11” and more the magnum opus of a hardened and prolific cargo theft ring that decided to aim for the score of a lifetime.

Federal prosecutors have now unsealed the charges in what they are calling the “largest jewelry heist in U.S. history,” a coordinated and audacious crime that netted its perpetrators nearly $100 million in gold, diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and luxury watches. The details emerging from the indictment paint a picture not of a single, spectacular crime, but of a criminal enterprise that honed its skills on smaller targets before escalating to a target of almost unimaginable value.

The story begins in July 2022 at the International Gem and Jewelry Show in San Mateo, a hub for jewelers to display and transport their high-value wares. According to the federal indictment, at least one member of the crew, Jazael Padilla Resto, was inside the show, acting as a “scout” to identify the most valuable target. Once the Brinks armored truck was loaded with 73 bags containing the collections of more than a dozen jewelers, the operation began.

What followed was not a quick smash-and-grab, but a remarkable display of patience and coordination. The crew, using burner phones to communicate, began a more than 300-mile tail of the armored truck as it headed south on its way to another show in Pasadena. They shadowed it through the night, even as the truck made a preliminary stop in Buttonwillow, deep in California’s Central Valley. They were waiting for the perfect moment, the point of maximum vulnerability.

That moment came in the early hours of July 11, at a Flying J truck stop in Lebec, a remote outpost in the mountainous Tejon Pass that connects Northern and Southern California. While one of the two Brinks guards was inside the rest stop and the other was asleep in the truck’s sleeper berth, the crew struck. In a stunningly brief 27-minute window, they bypassed the truck’s security systems and made off with 24 of the 73 bags. The indictment remains silent on the exact method used to breach the armored vehicle, a detail that remains a key mystery in the case.

After securing the massive haul, the crew allegedly traveled to East Hollywood, a dense Los Angeles neighborhood, presumably to divide the spoils and begin the difficult work of fencing nearly $100 million in jewels. In the days that followed, the burner phones used to coordinate the heist went silent.

For two years, the case vexed investigators. But this week, federal prosecutors announced charges against the seven men, dubbed the “San Mateo Seven”: Carlos Victor Mestanza Cercado, Jorge Enrique Alban, Pablo Raul Lugo Larroig, Jeson Nelon Presilla Flores, Eduardo Macias Ibarra, Victor Hugo Valencia Solarzano, and the alleged scout, Jazael Padilla Resto.

The indictment reveals that this was not the crew’s first rodeo. A core group of the defendants is also charged with a string of other cargo thefts in the months leading up to the Brinks job. These include the theft of over $250,000 worth of Samsung electronics from two different shipments in Ontario and Fontana, and an armed robbery of a truck driver at knifepoint for over $57,000 worth of Apple AirTags. This context paints a picture of a practiced and increasingly brazen cargo theft ring that saw the Brinks truck as its ultimate prize.

The aftermath of the indictment is a story in itself. Of the seven men charged, only three are in custody. Lugo Larroig and Presilla Flores were arrested Monday and have appeared in court. Padilla was already serving a prison sentence in Arizona for a separate burglary. This leaves four of the seven members of the crew as fugitives, sparking an active federal manhunt.

While authorities stated that some of the jewelry was recovered during the execution of search warrants, the vast majority of the $100 million haul remains missing, its whereabouts as much a mystery as the specific mechanics of the heist itself. The case now moves to the courts, promising a legal battle as fascinating as the crime, while federal agents continue their search for the remaining members of the crew that pulled off the most audacious and lucrative jewelry robbery in American history.