Two Houston area brothers were charged and another man is wanted for questioning, after police claim the trio was involved in a cell phone theft ring that netted nearly $250,000 worth of stolen goods.

Yusuf Tukdi, 51, and his brother Mohammad, 63, were charged with organized retail theft after Tomball Police say they tracked several hundred stolen cell phones to their store at 6875 Harwin Dr. in Houston. The items were stolen from a Tomball Radio Shack on April 21.

“During the course of the investigation an (Radio Shack) employee mentioned that there was a tracking device located within one of the cell phone boxes,” Det. Gary Hammond of the Tomball Police Department said. “We looked and it was taken, so we tracked it and with the help of Houston Police and Radio Shack Corporate Security we were able to track it to a specific business.”

Hammond said that Houston Police officers went to Tukdi’s store, who then consented to a search. One of the first boxes detectives encountered had the tracking device. Detectives then found more than 30 items stolen from the Tomball Radio Shack.

The brothers quickly pointed the finger to another man, Mohammad Kapadia, saying they had been buying stolen cell phones from him for months.

“(The Tukdi’s) were pretty cooperative in saying who brought it in,” Hammond said.

Investigators learned that Kapadia owned another cell phone store on Beechnut St. in Houston. Detectives went to that store where they recovered several dozen more items traced back to the Tomball Radio Shack, among hundreds of other stolen items.

Hammond believes that Kapadia has since fled the country, as he recently received a phone call from him that was traced back to India.

“I’m pretty sure he’ll be back because all of his family is still here,” he said.

Hammond also stated that the investigation took several months because they were trying to gather information on the total value of the stolen items. Items were recovered from numerous states, including Colorado and Louisiana. Investigators tried to tie the case to others around the country in order to make it a federal case, but were unable to make any connections.

The Tukdi brothers were arrested and are both free on $30,000 bond. Kapadia has not been charged as of press time, but is still wanted by police for more questioning.

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