An effort by Santa Fe County detectives to crack down on property crimes appears to be paying off.

The Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday that it has arrested 13 suspected burglars in the last month — most in the last week — and recovered about $75,000 worth of suspected stolen property.

"I think that both the city and the county have really stepped up efforts on property crimes, and we're starting to see the results," said Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano. "I'm really proud of my investigations division."

The most recent burglary statistics reflect those results, he said.

The residential burglary rate in the county dropped 18.5 percent — from 280 to 228 — during the first seven months of this year compared to the same time last year, according to statistics supplied by the Sheriff's Department. During the same time, the auto burglary rate fell 13 percent — from 135 to 117 — and the number of commercial burglaries — 22 from January to July 2007 and 23 during the same time in 2008 — remained almost the same, according to the statistics.

The onslaught of burglary arrests began July 24, when sheriff's deputies pulled over a vehicle occupied by Tommy Archuleta, 24, and Juan Soto, 22, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. Archuleta had a stolen laptop computer and other electronics valued at $4,000 in the vehicle and was arrested, the release says.

Detectives arrested Soto on Aug. 14 after another burglary suspect, 20-year-old Frank Flores, reported Soto and Archuleta brought him $20,000 worth of televisions, electronics and computer items, according to the release. Detectives saw those items in Flores' home after being allowed to search it. Flores was also arrested.

Detectives later searched Soto's home and a storage facility connected to him and found watches and electronics as well as a television and a computer with a total value of $7,000, the release states. They also found burglary tools at Soto's home, the release says.

Also on Aug. 14, detectives arrested eight men, including a 16-year-old, who admitted to trying to steal two all-terrain vehicles parked on Sloman Court. The vehicle in which the men were caught was seen in the same location earlier, when construction workers saw two men try to steal the ATVs, according to the release.

On Monday, detectives arrested Anthony "Big Boy" Anaya, 45, who was identified by a homeowner as the man who was in her house Aug. 1 when she arrived home, according to Solano. Anaya, who was acquitted of first-degree murder and other charges in connection with the shotgun death of a man in November 2004, allegedly stole $6,000 worth of wedding rings from the woman's home before fleeing in a silver Toyota station wagon, Solano said. Detectives tracked him down through the vehicle, he said.

Finally, agents from the Region III Narcotics Task Force arrested Drexdel Cuellar, 33, on Tuesday at his home in Santa Fe County and found 7 ounces of cocaine valued at $5,600 and $32,000 worth of stolen property, the release states.

Detectives are working to identify the owners of the stolen property, Solano said. City detectives also have photos of much of the stolen property and are trying to match it with burglaries in the city, he said. Most of the recovered items — which the Sheriff's Department had to transport in pickups — are electronics and large construction equipment such as generators, the release says.

The city's residential burglary rate, which was skyrocketing last year, fell 27 percent between January and June, compared to the same period last year.

Solano credited Lt. Ken Johnson, who took over his department's investigations division, with implementing new tactics that have lowered the property-crimes rate. The most important of those tactics, Solano said, is working more closely with the city and sharing more information about burglaries.

Ken Johnson, by the way, is the younger brother of both Santa Fe Police Chief Eric Johnson and Capt. Gary Johnson, the head of the city's investigations division.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.