LA Sheriff's detectives raid 12 locations, recover mass amount of stolen merchandise

Early Thursday morning, Los Angeles County Sheriff's detectives raided a small South L.A. market, where they discovered boxes stacked floor-to-ceiling of stolen merchandise, much of it still bearing store tags.

The raid was one of 12 that happened Thursday, as part of the Organized Retail Crime Task Force's efforts to crack down on theft crews. 

Task force detectives were contacted in March by private investigators from major retail outlets about thefts happening over a serval month period, where over $100,000 in over-the-counter pharmaceuticals and cosmetics was stolen. 

During the investigation, detectives determined merchandise stolen from stores in Arizona, Nevada, and California was being transported to Los Angeles County.  

Thursday's raid recovered some of that merchandise, from stores like CVS and Target. Investigators say it is all part of a single criminal organization believed to be connected to recent smash-and-grab robberies and cargo thefts.

Captain Calvin Mah, LASD Major Crimes Bureau, said in this particular operation, 10 people have been identified.  

"There's different parts of this activity that make this organization run, and so this is one of them where they steal all these products and store them so they can later sell it for the profit. It's part of the problem right now," Mah said. 

Investigators say most of the merchandise ends up being sold online, even on sites like Amazon. At a Florence warehouse, dozens of pallets of household goods were recovered. 

"A lot of these stores are losing money, now they have to have security there. A lot of stores are being closed down because they are losing all this product. So we are trying to make a dent in this operation because we see how it affects the community," Mah said. 

The ORCTF was created to combat the surge of Southern California flash mob robberies that began happening more and more frequently in the late months of 2023. 

Since its formation, the organization has been able to recover $11.5 million in stolen merchandise.