Office of Public Affairs
For Immediate Release: April 25, 2018
News Release #2018-10
Media Contact: Lance Klug
SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery today announced the arrest of eight truck drivers on charges of felony recycling fraud, conspiracy, and attempted grand theft. Agents with the California Department of Justice’s Recycle Fraud Team made the arrests during a three-day sting operation near the Arizona border with San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
The suspects are accused of smuggling nearly 59,000 pounds of empty beverage containers from Arizona into California in an attempt to defraud the California Redemption Value Fund of more than $87,000. Since consumers outside California do not pay CRV fees on beverage purchases, out-of-state containers are not eligible for CRV redemptions.
CalRecycle photos of evidence gathered at a Blythe, Calif. checkpoint during CDOJ’s three-day recycling fraud interdiction operation in January 2018.
“Importing out-of-state empty beverage containers for CRV redemption is a crime,” CalRecycle Director Scott Smithline said. “To prevent this type of fraud, drivers transporting empty bottles and cans into California are required to pass through one of CDFA’s 16 border inspection stations—and CalRecycle is working alongside our law enforcement partners to make sure that happens.”
In coordination with CalRecycle and the California Department of Food and Agriculture, California DOJ agents conducted the targeted operation from January 23 through January 25, 2018, at CDFA border protection stations in Vidal and Blythe, California.
Under California law, drivers transporting out-of-state empty beverage containers are required to declare the material by submitting an Imported Materials Report at one of 16 CDFA border inspection stations across the state. It is a violation of the law if vehicle operators:
- Fail to stop at a CDFA border inspection station
- Willfully avoid a CDFA border inspection station
- Refuse to allow inspection of loads containing empty beverage containers
- Knowingly submit false information
As a result of the California DOJ operations, the following drivers were arrested and booked at the Riverside County Jail: Tim Bristol, 55, of Tucson, AZ.; Miguel Dominguez-Lopez, 40, of Los Angeles, CA.; Henry Juarez, 53, of Oxnard, CA.; Oscar Lopez, 62, of Mesa, AZ.; Jose Mineros, 45, of Rialto, CA.; Tony Perez, 21, of Phoenix, AZ.; Eduardo Pineda Salcedo, 27, of Perris, CA.; and Eduardo Siordia, 46, of Rancho Cucamonga, CA.
| Material Seized | Amount | Potential CRV Value |
|---|---|---|
| Aluminum Used Beverage Containers | 38,890 lbs. | $62,224.00 |
| Plastic Used Beverage Containers | 20,007 lbs. | $24,808.68 |
| Total | 58,897 lbs. | $87,032.68 |
Fast Facts: CalRecycle’s Beverage Container Recycling Program Fraud Prevention Measures
In addition to CalRecycle’s interagency agreements with CA DOJ and CDFA, CalRecycle aggressively combats fraud and illicit payments in the Beverage Container Recycling Program through enhanced precertification training of recycling center owners; probationary reviews of recycling centers; oversight of certified processors; monitoring and tracking of imported materials; risk assessments of daily claims for reimbursement; daily load limits; application of prepayment controls; and post-payment reviews and investigations.
In addition to financial consequences, convictions for recycling fraud and related crimes can carry sentences ranging from six months to three years behind bars.
For more information contact, the Office of Public Affairs, opa@calrecycle.ca.gov
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CalRecycle's mission is to protect California's environment and climate for the health and prosperity of future generations through the reduction, reuse and recycling of California resources, environmental education, disaster recovery, and the transition from a disposable to a fully circular economy.