Feds: Oakland County 'Pirate' Skipped the Country

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A manhunt is under way by the Department of Homeland Security to find an Oakland County fugitive who admitted he was part of an interstate theft ring that has been described as operating like a band of pirates and then skipped the country.

According to federal court records, Viorel Pricop, 57, of Highland Township, crossed the border into Canada after admitting he was paid to transport stolen during the daring larcenies, then buried and hid the treasures, The Detroit News reports.

During two federal raids, authorities discovered about $1 million worth of stolen property hidden in a pole barn at Pricop’s residence in Milford, including a Ferrari worth $500,000, a Mercedes-Benz worth $197,000, stereo and electronics equipment, jewelry, designer clothing and miscellaneous equipment worth about $600,000, and two pallets of baby food.

Also discovered were empty storage tubes used to seal and bury high value items. Veteran defense attorney and former federal prosecutor Keith Corbett said that shows Pricop is a clever criminal.

“It’s smart. I like it,” Corbett told The Detroit News. “It wouldn’t be picked up by a metal detector. If you seal up both ends, you’re not going to get animals or water in there. It’s a pretty smart way to hide stuff if you bury it before the ground freezes and you know where it is.”

Pricop’s neighbors said they’re worried treasure hunters will show up.

“Everybody was really freaked out about this,” Pricop’s next-door neighbor, Daniel Hoops, told The Detroit News. “If somebody is sneaking over there looking for buried treasure, I don’t want to stumble into them.”

The cargo thefts occurred at truck stops along the Interstate 40 corridor through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma. After one of the trucking companies hit with thefts put GPS tracking equipment in boxes of Bose stereos that were later stolen, Michigan State Police tracked some of the stereos to a Grand River storage unit last February.

Pricop, a legal permanent U.S. resident from Romania, reportedly crossed the Ambassador Bridge into Canada with his wife and three sons after their first raid in February. His family has returned to the United States, but Pricop is considered a fugitive, according to court records.

He has been charged with transporting stolen property across state lines, a 10-year felony.

In court on Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office sought to have most of the merchandise and Pricop’s property forfeited to the government.