Operation Tractor Pull: $1.3 million worth of agricultural machinery recovered

VISALIA – Millions of dollars worth of farm equipment is going missing across the valley and law enforcement is not turning a blind eye.

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, along with sheriffs from Fresno and Merced counties, announced a major bust involving the theft of heavy farm equipment in the Central Valley on Boudreaux and revealed the results of “Operation Tractor Pull,” involving multiple agencies in Central California were involved.

At least four arrests were made after six search warrants were served Tuesday morning.

The Sheriff’s Department has named several suspects taken into custody during this operation. They include both California residents and Mexican nationals. Those arrested include Noe Guevera, 30, of Los Banos; Juan Carlos Murrufo, 22; Joel Avila, 43 of Hollister; Endi Jesus Lopez Bustillos, 31; Israel Garrido Cortez, 28 of Lindsay; and Nicolas Ruiz Cruz, 24, of Salinas. Still wanted are Ivan Avila Garcia, Michael Angel Saez, Marco Antonio Alvarez and Francisco Muniz De La Mora.

Agriculture detectives conducted surveillance for months and $1.3 million worth of equipment was recovered

Boudreaux explained that there is an ongoing agricultural theft tied to Mexican cartels. Several counties in the Valley have been working together under Operation Tractor Pull to recover hoes, trailers, tractors and other agricultural supplies.

“In early March 2024, the Sheriff’s Department was alerted to the theft of an excavator near Delano,” Boudreaux said. “Five days later, the LowJack alerted investigators that the stolen excavator was located at a truck stop in the city of Tulare. The excavator was hidden in the back of a semi-truck.”

The trailer also contained a second backhoe and an excavator. Boudreaux said transporting heavy equipment in trucks is an efficient way for thieves to cross the border with stolen goods.

“The truck drivers who quickly became suspects provided multiple tips about transporting stolen equipment through the central San Joaquin Valley, only to be taken across the border into Mexico,” he said. “It was the discovery of two chargers at Camp Nelson that led investigators to the Hollister area.”

Boudreaux said authorities quickly discovered they were dealing with a theft ring. He called it a sophisticated network of thieves who trade heavy machinery as an organized criminal activity. While many farmers now use GPS to track their equipment, Boudreaux says investigators are not often notified in time to investigate and locate stolen equipment. Once they cross the border into Mexico, it’s essentially a lost cause.

Search warrants were served in several communities, including Lindsay, Los Banos, Hollister and Riverdale.

“There are implications well beyond the Central Valley and into and across the border with Mexico,” he said. “This is just another sign that we have an open and unsecured border, with implications for a cartel’s involvement in the theft of agricultural machinery.”

Boudreaux said they have information that many of these drivers have received assistance in bypassing security checkpoints along the current border, which he is working on with Border Patrol and Homeland Security.

Merced County Sheriff Vernon H. Warnke added that these agricultural crimes affect everyone in terms of the pocketbook. Each theft increases costs for farmers and potentially higher prices in the supermarket.

“Granted, this isn’t one of the sexy crimes the media likes to talk about, but it certainly impacts everyone,” he said. “We have investigators working together across this state and we won’t stop.”