Photo: Renton Police Department
On 20 June 2023, Renton Police (Washington, USA) served a search warrant at a Federal Way residence, the home of a suspected stolen property trafficker.
Detective Brian Jordan, of the Department’s special Enforcement Team, had developed a case in which the suspect was found to have sold hundreds of thousands of stolen items on eBay.
The investigation revealed that the suspect, a 32 year old man, was receiving stolen items from multiple shoplifters. Working with store loss prevention personnel, Jordan was able to track stolen merchandise to the suspect’s Federal Way home.
Jordan applied for, and was granted, a warrant to search the residence. Personnel from the Special Enforcement Team, the uniformed Directed Enforcement Team, Patrol Officers, and Investigations Division Detectives all assisted in the warrant service.
The warrant service resulted in the arrest of the trafficking suspect, and the recovery of an estimated $1.5 million (€1.37 million) worth of merchandise.
The merchandise, stolen from a number of different stores, included items such as over the counter medications, personal care products, laundry detergent, power tools, vacuum cleaners, kitchen appliances, plumbing fixtures, computer hardware, audio equipment, Lego products, and printer cartridges.
Detectives found a large quantity of merchandise already packaged for shipping, addressed for delivery to buyers all across the country. The attached photos show some of the recovered items.
Shoplifting cost retailers an estimated $2.7 billion (€2.5 billion) in Washington State in 2021. Professional shoplifters channel merchandise to traffickers such as the suspect in this case, often stealing merchandise to order.
In partnership with businesses, Renton Police have stepped up efforts to address this crime at all levels. The Police press releases said: “We want to extend a huge thanks to the retail representatives who assisted in identifying and recovering merchandise in this case. We also ask the public’s help with this issue, don’t be a part of the problem by buying questionable merchandise.”
