Overview
- Three suspects now face enhanced first-degree organized-crime charges in Hays County tied to gift card tampering, which under Texas law carries a minimum 15-year prison sentence if convicted.
- Investigators say they recovered 11,563 gift cards and prevented roughly $5.6 million to $5.7 million in losses to shoppers.
- The probe began in March after a clerk spotted altered cards, which led officers to track a rented car between Houston and Austin.
- Police arrested two suspects in Buda and a third at an Austin hotel room, then found large bundled caches at a Houston home along with tampered cards, two Taiwanese passports, and rubber bands used to sort stacks.
- Officials say the group stole cards from displays at retailers like Walgreens, CVS, and Dollar Tree, peeled scratch covers to record codes, resealed the packaging, returned the cards to shelves, and drained balances as soon as customers activated them.