ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office (SLCSO) has made two arrests in connection with an alleged cloned vehicle operation.
Cortez Rashad Ash, 33, and Josuaire Pierre, 33, of Port St. Lucie, were arrested after an investigation into a company called Drizzle Drip & Mobile Detailing, LLC.
A search warrant was issued Tuesday for a home in the 200 block of Eyerly Avenue in Port St. Lucie, where five vehicles were recovered, according to a post by SLCSO.
The sheriff's office says one of those recovered vehicles had been cloned, and once the actual vehicle identification number (VIN) was found, investigators discovered that the vehicle had been reported stolen to the Orange County Sheriff's Office in July 2024.
According to The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV), vehicle cloning "is an elaborate scheme involving stolen vehicle identification numbers (VIN), counterfeit VIN tags and fraudulent documents."
SLCSO says this investigation is still active, and that they executed search warrants in Indian River County as well, as "part of a broader, multi-agency effort to uncover the scope of the fraudulent activities."
The two suspects have been charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle.
Investigators urge anyone who's purchased a vehicle from the company or the suspects to contact the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office at (772) 462-7300 or Detective Jay Carver at Carverj@stluciesheriff.com.
