Gardendale officers arrested two men this weekend on charges of illegal possession of credit cards and trafficking in stolen identities.

On Saturday, Walmart employees alerted the Gardendale Police Department that two individuals were using multiple credit cards to purchase Wal-Mart gift cards, Visa gift cards, and merchandise. Several of the credit cards were being declined, which is a common indicator of the use of counterfeit credit cards, according to Lt. Bryan Lynch.

One subject, Julio Villavicencio, was stopped and interviewed by officers as he left Walmart.  A second subject, Yampiel Hernandez, was located in the parking lot hiding on the floor board between the two back seats of the suspect’s vehicle.  

Fourteen credit/debit cards from various credit card companies, all in the name of Julio Villavicencio, were recovered from Villavicencio’s wallet at the time of his arrest.

Both suspects are from Miami, Fla. Inside the suspect’s vehicle, a GPS contained locations for several Walmart locations where the suspects are believed to have used counterfeit credit cards, Lynch said.

Gardendale detectives obtained warrants on Villavicencio for one count of trafficking in stolen identities with a $30,000 bond and five counts of illegal possession of a credit/debit card, with a $15,000 bond for each charge.

Detectives obtained warrants on Hernandez for one count of trafficking in stolen identities with a $30,000 bond and two counts of illegal possession of credit/debit card, with a $15,000 bond for each charge.  Additionally, Hernandez has an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer.

From interviews conducted with the suspects it was determined that victim’s credit card information is being obtained by an unknown third party in another state, likely from either “skimming” or a computer network intrusion, according to Lynch. This subject then makes and sells the counterfeit cards with the victim account information, but with the criminal’s name on the card.  

None of the victims who were contacted by Gardendale detectives knew that their credit card numbers were being used on counterfeit cards. Victims identified to this point include residents from New Hampshire, Texas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, California and Minnesota.

In addition to Gardendale patrol officers and detectives, assistance was provided by Homewood Detective Wade Green, Secret Service Special Agent Chris Nichols and Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff Rudy Aquillar. The investigation is still ongoing and further charges are possible.