LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- An investigation into a multi-state car theft ring that began in 2022 has resulted in the recovery of about 30 stolen vehicles in Louisville and the investigation continues to grow, according to the Louisville Metro Police Department.

On Tuesday morning, LMPD's impound lot was filled with stolen, luxury vehicles recovered by police -- and they weren't cheap. They included a Bentley, a Corvette, a BMW, RV, boat, and more. Police estimate the total value of the more than two dozen vehicles to surpass $3 million.

Stolen vehicle at the LMPD tow lot that were recovered from multi-state car theft ring

LMPD said the investigation began around November 2022 and soon led to the recovery of two stolen vehicles. It's grown significantly in the past several months.

LMPD Det. Brian Reccius, who is part of the sixth division Impact Unit, said many at the impound lot were found to be stolen out of Florida, specifically areas around Miami and Fort Lauderdale. 

"Some of them are being sold, some are being driven every day," said Reccius.

According Reccius, VIN numbers have played a huge part in this investigation.  He said those numbers been altered, making it difficult to determine if the vehicle is actually stolen.

"We found that the cars were being cloned with new VINs and it was almost impossible for us on the street to be able to detect that the cars were stolen because if you were to run the license plate, it would come back to the car," he said. 

Reccius said people are creating a new VIN, fake title, and "pushing the title through the county clerk's office."

According to Reccius, "... they're doing that and you essentially create a car that doesn't exist."

He said detectives within LMPD worked with Kentucky State Police to research and confirm these cars were, in fact, stolen. 

According to LMPD, this investigation is called "Operation Havana Highway."

Reccius said he's not sure why this many vehicles ended up in Louisville, but said the investigation is not over and it's likely there will be more charges and that more stolen vehicles will be found.

Police said so far, six people have been charged, but officers would not provide details.

Through court documents WDRB has learned the names and charges of three of the six people charged. Documents show Edian Guzman Jay De Lao, Leonardo Darien Balmaseda Castillo, and Andy Louis Junco Cruz are all charged with obscuring the identity of a machine of $10,000 or more and receiving stolen property. 

Despite several reports of LMPD responding to street racing in the past few months, police said they do not believe these stolen cars are related to the racing.

"Most of these are high-end luxury cars, they're not really race cars," said Reccius.

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