Police believe they have busted a statewide stolen equipment racket after recovering more than USD1 million in forklifts and other equipment on September 23.

Louis Natal, 37, was charged with multiple counts of grand theft, possessing stolen property and altering vehicle identification numbers, according to a Tallahassee Democrat report. No other arrests had been made, but the investigation was ongoing and more arrests were expected, police said.

An anonymous tip about a stolen forklift led detectives to Mr Natal's business, Natal Express Inc, where they found three stolen forklifts, 12 semitrailers, seven tractors and a single-body truck.

Detectives also found 22 pallets of 20-by-20 foot (six-by-six metre) slabs of marble worth USD200,000 inside one of the trailers, and tools, allegedly used to alter vehicle identification numbers, were also confiscated.

Police believed Mr Natal was part of a statewide ring of auto thieves, as the forklifts and other vehicles "came from all over Florida", the report said.