Estates residents found with $160,000 worth of cloned credit cards, deputies

Two Golden Gate Estates residents were found with 20 cloned credit cards Sunday during an Interstate 75 traffic stop, according to Lee County sheriff’s deputies.Yudeisy Pedrozo, 26, and Jose Hernandez, 32, of the 3500 block of Everglades Boulevard North, were arrested with the cards and a magnetic device used to create cloned cards, deputies said. The cards had a potential value of $160,000 if used.Both are charged with 20 counts of possession of a cloned or counterfeit credit card, as well as single counts of trafficking in 10 or more cloned credit cards and possession of manufacturing equipment to produce counterfeit credit cardsThey face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.Pedrozo and Hernandez were pulled over at about 9:30 a.m. in a 2005 BMW 745i near Palm Beach Boulevard. They were traveling southbound from Tampa to Fort Myers,Deputies discovered one of the suspects had an extensive history of credit card cloning. They also spotted thousands of dollars worth of new merchandise in the car, leading them to search the vehicleThe stop was made as part of a Sheriff’s Office operation conducted with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.It’s the fifth known traffic stop in Southwest Florida to yield counterfeit credit cards in the past month. Nine people face charges stemming from the arrests.